Swordtail giving birth

[Elisabeth83]

My swordtail is giving birth...but the fry has been sitting half way out now for about 30-45 mins....I've never seen a fish give birth...so I have no idea if this is normal...I am kinda scared that the fry is dead or something....


Argh!! Help me!!

 

[Joby]

I just had a similar situation with my guppy Shadow

She had something bulging out of her vent for over an hour before a fry came out but it was unfortunately dead. She did then get another bulge straight away and half an hour later a live fry came out. After this time I went to bed and left her to it as it was 2am and I assumed the blockage was gone and she'd give birth ok as she has before

This morning no sign of live fry and still bulges in her vent. She died a couple of hours ago and when I looked inside there were 8 big fry perfectly formed but dead

I hope you have a better outcome than me. Just leave her to it and make sure she's got peace and quiet and nature will take its course

Good luck to your swordtail

 

[Elisabeth83]

Hi Joby,

So sorry to hear about your fish..that sounds like an awful way to go I hope my girl makes it cause she's one of my favorites

I really wonder what happened with your guppy

This is the first time I've actually seen my fish give birth. I posted this in the emergency section and was told there that this is normal so I hope she pops the fry out soon!!

Will keep you updated!!

 

[pnyklr3]

One of my mollies had fry that seemed to be stuck. They were coming out head first instead of tail first. The head first births ended up being underdeveloped and stillborn. How are your fry coming out?

 

[Joby]

my guppy's fry seemd to be coming out by their yolk sac first! Ouch! When my son was born he was head first but facing the wrong way up so the biggest bit of his head came out first and he was 9lb 9oz and I didn't do that without an epidural so poor fish must have been in agony

I've watched them give birth before and normally its very quick once they get going. She was just having particularly large fry also which I guess didn't help as she wasn't a big girl

I hope your swordtail is ok Elisabeth

 

[Elisabeth83]

Well it's been 1 1/2 hours now and still the fry is half way out. It's coming out tail first which I read is the way it should be coming out. It looks fully developed from what I can see. When I first saw it I saw it wiggle but not sure now if it is. Wouldn't it be dead? If the sac is broken how is it getting air?

Hmmm....I'm worried

 

[Joby]

How does your female look?

Is she still trying to push it out?

I really don't think anything can be done, she alone is the only one that can do it

sending postive fry pushing vibes your way!

 

[Elisabeth83]

Would it be possible to pull the fry out?? Is this how long it can take sometimes for a swordtail to give birth?? I want these fry to live so much

 

[Elisabeth83]

Aww Joby I appriciate that )

She is just swimming around like normal...not being by herself or anything. I thought I'd turn the light off and put a towel over the tank so I did that for about an hour thinking she would probably push it out. But I just took the towel off about 10 mins ago and like I said the same fry is still sticking half way out...

She doesn't look like she's pushing she's just acting like she always does even searching for food.

I am 100% sure it's a fry because it's got a tail

 

[Joby]

I'm not sure how you would manage that to be honest

I really wanted to yank the fry out my poor guppy as she was my favourite too but I didn't want to stress her out anymore than she was

It almost broke my heart to cut her open when she died but if there was a chance of at least saving some fry then I wanted to take it

I really hope it works out for you

Has nobody else had any experiences like this that can help Elisabeth?

 

[Elisabeth83]

I don't think so..I've searched the forum for Birth but nothing like this came up

I tried searching on google too but I couldn't find anything either. I've watched the birthing video of the guppy on this forum but that one just squirts them out.

This fish has given birth before so I wouldn't think she'd be having any trouble.

Does anyone here know if this is normal for it to be taking so long?

I can so understand how you felt about your guppy Last week I had to euthanize one of my lyretails because it kept having seizurs...so sad!!

I just wonder if I did pull out this fry if it would help her or make it worse.....hmmmm....

 

[pnyklr3]

I think that trying to catch her, pinning her down, and then trying to get hold of the fry would REALLY stress her out more than the time this is taking. My mollie did ok after her spell with birth. I think this is just going to be a waiting game.

 

[Elisabeth83]

pnyklr3 I think your right...I'll just have to wait it out!! I hope by the morning she will of given birth and I'll see bunches of fry

Is it best to keep it dark in the tank? What about sounds?

 

[Joby]

I agree with pnyklr3

If she's swimming around and not bothered then let her get on with it

Perhaps the first little fry was impatient and she's not ready to push it out yet!

 

[Elisabeth83]

Well she started at around 6:30 in the afternoon and it's almost 9:00pm now. All other times she's given birth it's been at night so Joby I think you might be right. Maybe this little one is eager to get out but she is going to wait until it's night with no sounds etc.

I'll update everyone in the morning!!

Thanks for all your replies