Which Is Pregnant?

[Betta91]

So I went to the pet store today to buy 3 more female guppies to go with my two males (a total of 4 females). According to the employee, at least one of the guppies is pregnant and should be ready to give birth very soon. She has a dark but very small gravid spot, but does not seem to be fat at all. The opposite applies to the second guppy I purchased today. she has a very small gravid spot, but is extremely fat. First of all, which one of these is most likely to be pregnant? I also bought a breeding trap to put them in when they are ready to "pop." Which fish sounds like it will be using the trap sooner? Thanks for your help

 

[aquaticadmirer]

It's likely they're both pregnant. With guppies if they've been with males, they're pregnant!

 

[theotheragentm]

Livebearers are normally pregnant when purchased from the first store. The exception is normally Guppies as males and females are kept separately. This does not mean all stores do that, so you very well may have a fish that is already pregnant. I dont like breeding traps as they stress the fish out quite a bit, which may lead to aborted fry. I prefer to give the mothers their own tank to birth in if you're you looking the save the fry. Provide lots of hiding places and the babies will survive. Good luck.

 

[Betta91]

Thanks for the replies! As much as I would love to buy a seperate tanks for birthing, I am unable to purchase one at the time. I have had to resort to a birthing trap only because I have some fish and animals that would love to have the fry as a tastey snack (mainly 2 gourmies and and African Dwarf Frog)

 

[theotheragentm]

Sounds good. You may end up like me in the future and sadly be hoping for the larger fish to make snacks of the fry.

 

[modaz]

ok here i go,

it sound like that only one of your guppies is pregnant, the one with the gravid spot, give her some time to expand a little bit, the other one just fat and greedy when it comes to feeding, that is unless she is a full colour female. i.e she got more colour than the usual bog standard female guppy.

do not put the pregnant one into a breeding trap this is likely to cause her to abort her fry, leave her to drop them in the tank and keep a good eye on them once you see some fry catch them and put them into the breeding trap to grow big enough to transfer to the main tank, then feed them on finely crushed flake and fry food to build them up. and its as simple as that. have fun with your latest additions

 

[mommyof2bettas]

If there is a gravid spot but it's small she's still pregnant, just not extremely.

 

[theotheragentm]

Gravid spots aren't signs of pregnancy. They should always be there, but they are darker during pregancy. This is why I don't like to tell people to check for gravid spots for pregnancy. Size is the best thing to look for as your livebearers will grow quite large and look like their abdomens are about to burst.