Pregnant Guppy--how Far Along?

[Kame-San]

I recently purchased an already-pregnant guppy, and am curious to know how far along she is. I have 2 pics to attach, and would appreciate any guesses...

Sorry, they're not all that great...

One of my males got into this pic, sorry xD

She's still been eating, so I'm guessing it won't happen today, right? I've researched a bit, but I'm still pretty new... She's been staying towards to top of the aquarium and taking in a lot of air, but other than that she's been normal.

Thanks for any help ^-^

 

[Spader]

idk, its hard to tell as the pics are too small. i can see the gravid spot though, so be on the look out for fry sometime in the next week!

 

[Annastasia]

i can see the gravid spot though, so be on the look out for fry sometime in the next week!

They have gravid spots all the time, since it's where they store sperm, and eggs, have parts of their reproductive system, etc. The fry also grow there, hence why you can see their eyes through it, but the gravid spot isn't only the fry's eyes.

I wouldn't say she is very far along, since she seems pretty thin. But you never can tell with Guppies, sometimes they never get very big and have small batches. Do you have any larger pictures?

 

[Kame-San]

thanks =) and I'm sorry about the pictures being so small and fuzzy...couldn't find the camera so I had to use the cell.

 

[Spader]

i can see the gravid spot though, so be on the look out for fry sometime in the next week!

They have gravid spots all the time, since it's where they store sperm, and eggs, have parts of their reproductive system, etc. The fry also grow there, hence why you can see their eyes through it, but the gravid spot isn't only the fry's eyes.

it seemed to me it looked bigger than a normal sized, but i may be wrong

 

[Annastasia]

Hmmm...it's hard to tell. In the first picture it looks pretty big, but in the second one it looks small. Which picture represents her actual gravid spot size better?

 

[Spader]

the one it looks bigger in!

 

[Kame-San]

lmao xD her gravid spot is actually pretty big. it seems to have taken over most of her under-side.

 

[Neo8223]

lmao xD her gravid spot is actually pretty big. it seems to have taken over most of her under-side.

if the black bit is one big bit of black then u got a bit to go. If you can see black dots, then its practically ready. I stuck my guppy in the breeding tank today for the same reason as i said. You will eventually get to see the signs as if it is second nature to you so you get to know the signs within 2 days of her breeding.

 

[Kame-San]

I can see black spots, and it's only one really big spot when she hasn't eaten (between the last feeeding of the day, and the first of the next) It seems that her stomache is dropping some, but I don't want to put her in the breeder net. I'm going out of town for the night, and I don't want to leave her confined. I'm having a neighbor come and feed all our fish, but I don't trust him with moving her out of the net is she does or doesn't have her babies...

I don't have any floating plants yet--haven't been able to find any recently--but I do have a lot of other plants, so I think at least a few fry would survive if they were born outside of the breeder net. But...I don't know, any suggestions for that?

 

[Neo8223]

dont put her in a breeding trap if you are going on holiday. I normally abandon my trap on holiday even if theres loads of fry. It seems that every peron who i ask to look after my tank when i'm on holiday forgets to feed the fry tank, (especially my sister) so they are better off taking their chances instead of dieing of starvation. Also at least this way the female mother will be fed so she can live to spawn again.

If your tank is densly planted then a fair few should survive. I find floating plants are excellent too. If you dont have floating plants, just trim a few of your plants and keep the cuttings in the tank. Normaly they float and dont die. Obviously this doesnt exactly make the tank look very nice but hey.... do whats necessary (if your plants arent ready to be trimmed, then dont do it either guppys will stay at the bottom of the tank at first anyway and if theres no cover, then they try their luck)

Another thing to do is put something in the tank which only fry can get into. I did this with my young guppies (not quite fry) when i put it into my big tank full of preditors. They stayed behind a horizontal tube used for pumping water back into the tank from the external filter. They stayed in the same tank as fish 20 times their size and are still alive (but i moved them now to restart my breeding program) This will probably be a long term thing to do but u probably should impliment that when setting up a fresh tank

 

[Kame-San]

I didn't put her in the breeder, and she hasn't had the fry yet (according to my neighbor...) I'll be going back home in a few hours, and I'm sure she'll be fine. I don't know how she is, since I'm not there, and I don't know if she's eaten. My neighbor doesn't care to look as he feeds them, as long as their fed, he thinks it's fine. I'll be sure to check for signs of labor as soon as I get back.

Thanks =)