How long does it take for a female betta to reabsorb eggs?

[haileyykristian]

My female delta is gravid. I have seen her breeding bars and her ovipositor is more prominent. I have been fasting her five days a week for two weeks and she has yet to drop or absorb her eggs. Her tank is well established and when I checked the water parameters ammonia and nitrites were 0 and nitrates were 5ppm. I upped my water changes to twice a week: once 10% and once 30%. I lost one female about a year ago to egg binding and I tried everything to help her. I don't want to freak out but I don't want to lose her too. At what point should I start doing regular epsom salt baths or treating her tank? I do have a mature male that I could try to breed her with but I do not want baby bettas and I have no experience with breeding.

 

[JuiceBox52]

@Crispii @Deanasue @Sylvan @Colin_T

 

[Crispii]

I am so confused. You said you don't want to raise Betta fry and yet you want to breed with a male? Are you sure she isn't constipated or bloated? What you are describing is possible, but not normal for female Bettas - to hold/drop eggs without the presence of a male.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Actually, it s quite possible for a female to have eggs without a male. However, they won’t be fertile without a male. She can do 3 things. 1) Drop her eggs if she is able to. 2) She can reabsorb them into her body. 3.) She can become egg bound and usually die. That is not as common as the first 2 choices. If she were put with a male then the male would “court” her and she would drop the eggs. He would then fertilize and place them in the nest. I don’t suggest this if you don’t want fry. Let Mother Nature take her course. You don’t need to intervene. I woke up a couple of weeks ago to find goldfish eggs all over my female tank. I just let them eat them and cleaned up the rest. I had no idea they were even carrying eggs . I could have moved a male in there but didn’t want fry right now. I use to have a female sorority and never noticed when they were carrying eggs.

 

[FishGuest5123]

My female delta is gravid. I have seen her breeding bars and her ovipositor is more prominent. I have been fasting her five days a week for two weeks and she has yet to drop or absorb her eggs. Her tank is well established and when I checked the water parameters ammonia and nitrites were 0 and nitrates were 5ppm. I upped my water changes to twice a week: once 10% and once 30%. I lost one female about a year ago to egg binding and I tried everything to help her. I don't want to freak out but I don't want to lose her too. At what point should I start doing regular epsom salt baths or treating her tank? I do have a mature male that I could try to breed her with but I do not want baby bettas and I have no experience with breeding.

She is not actually gravid as she is not a live bearer. Don’t use epsom salt unless she’s constipated. It won’t help with eggs.

 

[Crispii]

Actually, female Bettas can be gravid.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Some people do call it that but technically it’s a term for Livebearers. You are correct, it is used for both. You won’t find gravid spots on egg layers though.

 

[Colin_T]

Just breed them and don't bother looking after the babies.

 

[LittleMissNeptune]

Yeah, agreed