Is My Guppy Pregnant?

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TDPUK

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Hi everyone.
 
Pretty new to the world of fish and I was thinking about starting to breed guppy's. I went to the fish store today and picked up 3 female guppy's as I already have males. 
 
Is it possible that one of the females is already carrying fry? They was being kept in separate tanks to the males but she looks pretty big and has all of the signs of being pregnant. 
 
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hmm she seems normal to me but livebearer are constantly pregnant so I'm not 100% sure.
 
Just because she has a "gravid spot" doesn't mean she is pregnant.  I find this to be a myth, although most pregnant females do, my males have it as well.  And as far as it becoming 'dark' it may not.  I had one female who's "gravid spot" stayed the same color her whole term.  Even when she dropped fry it was basically the same color as before.
 
bluesword23516 said:
Just because she has a "gravid spot" doesn't mean she is pregnant.  I find this to be a myth, although most pregnant females do, my males have it as well.  And as far as it becoming 'dark' it may not.  I had one female who's "gravid spot" stayed the same color her whole term.  Even when she dropped fry it was basically the same color as before.
 
 
ythao01 said:
hmm she seems normal to me but livebearer are constantly pregnant so I'm not 100% sure.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Still not sure though been researching the forum and she seems to resemble every pregnant guppy photo on the net. Anyone else have an input please? Need to know whether I should get ready to move her. 
 
TDPUK said:
 
Just because she has a "gravid spot" doesn't mean she is pregnant.  I find this to be a myth, although most pregnant females do, my males have it as well.  And as far as it becoming 'dark' it may not.  I had one female who's "gravid spot" stayed the same color her whole term.  Even when she dropped fry it was basically the same color as before.
 
 
ythao01 said:
hmm she seems normal to me but livebearer are constantly pregnant so I'm not 100% sure.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Still not sure though been researching the forum and she seems to resemble every pregnant guppy photo on the net. Anyone else have an input please? Need to know whether I should get ready to move her. 
 
Why would you want to move her?
 
She is not that close to dropping fry.  I wouldn't move her from the tank.  Often the other fish will leave the fry alone, some females are aggressive towards the fry and those you should maybe put in a clear bowl that isn't rounded next to the tank.  Only leave her in there for an hour or two, this may help her get used to the fry if she sees them and help eliminate territory (if guppies even have territory).  
 
Your female could just be chesty as well.  I had a female who was very chesty, she was never pregnant because I hand raised her and was kept in a completely separate tank.  
 
GetItSahn said:
 
 


Just because she has a "gravid spot" doesn't mean she is pregnant.  I find this to be a myth, although most pregnant females do, my males have it as well.  And as far as it becoming 'dark' it may not.  I had one female who's "gravid spot" stayed the same color her whole term.  Even when she dropped fry it was basically the same color as before.
 
 
ythao01 said:
hmm she seems normal to me but livebearer are constantly pregnant so I'm not 100% sure.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Still not sure though been researching the forum and she seems to resemble every pregnant guppy photo on the net. Anyone else have an input please? Need to know whether I should get ready to move her. 
 
Why would you want to move her?
 


Is it not recommended to move her into another tank to give birth to her fry so they do not get eaten?
Another few photo's just taken for a better look. 
 
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Here is a macro shot of her so you can see her insides. 
 
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It depends on what fish are in the tank and what things you have in there. Can you send a tank shot and list what other fish are in there, species and amount. And she doesn't look pregnant right now. A week and half max.
 
livebearers that have had ANY contact with a male are 99% of the time pregnant. yes, your fish is pregnant.
 
guppy2002 said:
livebearers that have had ANY contact with a male are 99% of the time pregnant. yes, your fish is pregnant.
 
Thank you for the reply. How long till she has her fry do you estimate? I think 2 out of the 3 I purchased today are currently holding fry. The other female has a streamline body shape and no black mass inside her.
PS, the picture's don't do her any justice, her belly looks a lot bigger and drops a lot more in real life. 
 
if you want to save any fry, get a smaller about 5 gallon tank. when she looks boxy(like there are corners on the edges of her stomach) acclimate her into that tank. let her drop fry, then take her out.
 
i think she still has a couple weeks.unless she is a younger guppy. they tend to not look as big when they drop.
 
I would say 3 weeks. Give or take a few days. You can just see how the fry do in the tank and if numbers get low separate them
 
As others have said, if your new females have spent any time in the same bit of water as a male, in the last 6 months, they will be gravid.
 
Just a word of warning, if I may. Guppies are very very easy to breed. This means that lots of people do so, some on a huge industrial scale. It also means that guppies are very cheap to buy.
 
This in turn means that guppy fry are very difficult to move on. Many LFS won't take them at all (because they don't want to risk introducing disease into their tank systems), those that do very rarely pay money for them. Some hobbyist breeders have some success selling them on Gumtree and similar sites. What you may find is that you have so much difficulty selling the fry that your tanks become hugely overrun.
 
guppy2002 said:
if you want to save any fry, get a smaller about 5 gallon tank. when she looks boxy(like there are corners on the edges of her stomach) acclimate her into that tank. let her drop fry, then take her out.
 
i think she still has a couple weeks.unless she is a younger guppy. they tend to not look as big when they drop.
 
 
bluesword23516 said:
I would say 3 weeks. Give or take a few days. You can just see how the fry do in the tank and if numbers get low separate them
 
 
the_lock_man said:
As others have said, if your new females have spent any time in the same bit of water as a male, in the last 6 months, they will be gravid.
 
Just a word of warning, if I may. Guppies are very very easy to breed. This means that lots of people do so, some on a huge industrial scale. It also means that guppies are very cheap to buy.
 
This in turn means that guppy fry are very difficult to move on. Many LFS won't take them at all (because they don't want to risk introducing disease into their tank systems), those that do very rarely pay money for them. Some hobbyist breeders have some success selling them on Gumtree and similar sites. What you may find is that you have so much difficulty selling the fry that your tanks become hugely overrun.
 
Thank you for all the replies! I really appreciate them.
 
I am going to get another tank this week and move her when she's ready. Thanks Lockman, I was thinking of doing exactly what you said and selling them at a very low price undercutting 99% of the competition as hopefully this will turn into a small hobby :).
 

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