New Platy Question... Yeah, It's Me Again! Haha

[PrairieSunflower]

So.... been comparing my platy I've had for about a month (who is relatively still a baby really) to my new platy who is probably just a bit smaller than full size.

My little platy that I have had for a month is quite round (far too young to be pregnant and she's never been in a tank with a male anyway)... and my new platy is... well... sort of flat (if you look head on at her width).

Which is normal? How "fat" should virgin platies be?

 

[Chad]

Well...are you sure they are both females? That's the first question. With many fish shape differences relate to sex (sexual dimorphism). How fat can depend on what they eat and how often. It can also be a sign of being constipated.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

They both have the appropriate female fins. They poop like troopers. LOL But yes, my smaller one could be called piggie as when the rest of my fish think food is gone she does seem to manage to keep eating... at least the pooping would imply so!

 

[Chad]

Perhaps just FAT! Maybe post a photos...

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Will try and get a photo later.... my platies seem to only show me their sides when I have a camera and my guppies show me their faces! So, might be hard to show what I see.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

These are the best I could manage for photos. Rosie was all for being there but not all that impressed and basically clamped her fins up for as long as I had the camera out. Rosie is the orange platy... she doesn't look rounded in the photos now! But basically, he belly looks a lot more round than the other (who my kids are still arguing over for a name).

The photos for the new one really don't show anything, but she is the one that seems so flat to me if I look at her head on.... and my darling guppy lived up to my expectations and stuck her face in one of the photos. LOL

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

id say normal well fed but normal

 

[Chad]

What I would look for is a bloated look or an asymmetry. That would be a sign of disease or illness. I don't see that in the photos. Of course I'm limited to just the views provided but they seem (like Animal Lover says) normal.

Fish are like people in that there are variations in the standard body. We all have two arms and two legs (you know normally) but some of us are fat, some skinny, etc. The same is true of fish. Just based on what I see I would say it's just a different body type than the other fish.

A large belly that is flattened on the bottom is a sign of being gravid. I'm not sure the timeframe but it could have come to you pregnant. I'm not sure parthenogenesis occurs in FW livebearers though.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Definitely not pregnant, the orange one I was absolutely sure to make sure would be a virgin, she was just a babe when I bought her and still very small, maybe only an inch long (guessing.)

 

[Chad]

What I see in the photo looks like a healthy fish to me. WILDER is very good at diagnosing problems so maybe she will come along and see something I don't but what I see if like many other fish I've kept...fat, but happy.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Wilder already asked me some questions in one of my other platy posts (platies are so new to me!) as they also have bouts of flashing followed by tail poking my guppies... which is all weird to me.