Pregnant guppy gave birth to only 4 fry

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Guppster

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I am confused. She still has a belly and just popped out 4 fry like 4 days ago. Could it have been stress induced? She was getting harassed by males. Is she going to have more? The babies are also uninterested in any food. I've tried pellets, flakes and shrimp but they don't want anything.
 

GuppyBreeder180604

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she will most likely have more fry in a few days, if the males were harassing her then I can assume she did not find a comfortable quiet spot to have her fry.
I would recommend you to catch her and separate her from the main group for a few days and to put her in a container with lots of stem plants that leave almost no swim space so she feels safe and releases all her leftover fry
 

jonny-5

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Possibly stress related but it is not uncommon to give birth to only a few fry. I believe this happends because of either :

Its a young fish & its the first birth

Stress can be an issue & they can abort the birth until they feel comfortable again

The fish is not properly conditioned for breeding

Ive had 5 different batches off 3 different moms in only 2 months & each birth & the way they birth has been different each time

Also my guppy mom had her last batch 5 days ago & she looks like shes ready again but she wont drop any until the very last day, like ive had 3 batches off her now

The fry wont/cant eat food that is too big. I found for the first few days they will eat Spirulina powder or a liquid food,Such as Liquifry but this is very messy & needs regular water changes.
After day 3/4 they will eat flake if it is small enough for them to eat. They are always hungry
 
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Guppster

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she will most likely have more fry in a few days, if the males were harassing her then I can assume she did not find a comfortable quiet spot to have her fry.
I would recommend you to catch her and separate her from the main group for a few days and to put her in a container with lots of stem plants that leave almost no swim space so she feels safe and releases all her leftover fry
I have separated her to a smaller tank with another female so she isn't lonely. Hasn't had any babies since then. I have artificial plants in there, but there are hiding spots. Should I remove the other female or leave her there? Do I put the pregnant guppy in a breeder box? What is the best thing to do here and to not cause her any stress? I actually switched my male guppies for females, so the main tank has 2 females and 1 male now. No more harassment! Haha. Once she has the fry, I'll move her back to the bigger one.
 

Fish4dawin

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I have separated her to a smaller tank with another female so she isn't lonely. Hasn't had any babies since then. I have artificial plants in there, but there are hiding spots. Should I remove the other female or leave her there? Do I put the pregnant guppy in a breeder box? What is the best thing to do here and to not cause her any stress? I actually switched my male guppies for females, so the main tank has 2 females and 1 male now. No more harassment! Haha. Once she has the fry, I'll move her back to the bigger one.
You can look into adding some floating plnats or maybe a few more hiding places for the babies. It is likely a few will be eaten but that is normal. The fry will probably be very well hidden and won't be seen by the other female. Keep the other female in there with her.
 

jonny-5

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If this helps you i buy the cheap packs of artificial plants off Amazon,Ebay etc etc & when i spot fry i just pile them up in a corner so the fry can hide, Just until i can get to them or the gravel vac catches them during water changes
 

Geordie Paul

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I am confused. She still has a belly and just popped out 4 fry like 4 days ago. Could it have been stress induced? She was getting harassed by males. Is she going to have more? The babies are also uninterested in any food. I've tried pellets, flakes and shrimp but they don't want anything.
My guppy first had only 4 fry, then she had 8, then she had 15. She'll most likely have more next time. She may have eaten some as well. Keep her well fed it takes lots of energy to give healthy birth.
 

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