Guppy due time?

[Hananehk]

Hi, can anyone tell me when is my guppy's due time? I have put her in a breeding box and I fear if it is too soon?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

There's no way of telling how far through the pregnancy she is. If she is carrying a couple of babies she is probably due now. If she has lots of babies she might deliver them in a couple of weeks. She might not even be pregnant and is just full of worms. She probably is pregnant tho.

Female livebearers can carry up to 6 sperm packets from breeding with males and they use 1 sperm packet to fertilise each batch of eggs. The gestation period (from the time she fertilises the eggs to when she gives birth to free swimming babies) is about 1 month. After which she will fertilise another batch of eggs using another sperm packet.

It is preferable not to move pregnant fish because you can stress them and even damage the unborn fry. If you have to move pregnant females, carefully catch them in a net and then use a plastic container to scoop the female and net up in some tank water. Move her (in the net in the bucket of water) to a new tank and then pour her into the new tank.

If you moved the female to a smaller aquarium/ breeding trap, that would stress her.

Put some plants in with her. Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) is the best plant for livebearers. It normally grows on the surface but can also be grown in the substrate where it grows into a lovely light green shrub.

If you don't have any live plants then add some artificial plants to provide her with shelter when she goes into labour, and to give the fry somewhere to hide when they are born.

Do not put the female into a tank with males until at least 1 week after she has given birth otherwise the male/s will stress her out.

Try not to move the female for at least 1 week after she has given birth so she can heal up. If you have to move the female after she has given birth, use the method above for moving pregnant females.

Most female guppies do not eat their young if the female is well fed and there are plants in the tank, but will eat them when they are confined to a small breeding trap.