if your choice is to use something for her to give birth in, then a birthing trap is more appropiate this allows the fry to swim to safty away from the mother by means of seperation, this is because if she feels like it she will just eat the fry but not always the case.
the signs of labour are:
she will find a dark corner or area and seem motionless, she will start giving rapid gill panting and will not except any food. also she will not try to leg it when you gently tranfer her into the trap.
this is a very good sign that she is extremely close to dropping fry.
when shes giving birth she will slightly seem stressed but this is due to the labour, as she gives birth one by one or sometimes in twos or threes she will slightly raise her back end and move her anal fin to one side to allow the fry to come out, she will have lots of periods when you think she has finished but thats not the case, you must wait until she looks like a skinny guppy before setting her free.
note that she could take between 2 and 24 hours and could be easy birth or sometimes difficult, a good tip to reduced her stress is to turn the tank lights off and let her get on with it.
if anyone suggests not using a trap or net then please remember this is your choice and only your choice
good luck let me know how it goes
modaz
sorry realized ive put guppy but you meant platy..same applies for both but i'll be buggered if im gunna type all that out again
