Do platys not eat before they pop?

[bman]

I have what I believe is a very pregnant Mickey mouse platy. She has been hanging low in the wisteria underbrush, and not shooting to the top to eat for the last few days. Is this normal behavior before she spits out her fry? I think she is holding on to them, because her stomach is large, and it has been starting to get lumpy, like there are plenty fry in there waiting to get out.

Plus, does anyone know where to get any good information on breeding livebearers, in particular platys? I have done some searching but have not produced any good sites.

 

[Puriti]

There isn't all that much to breeding livebearers, they breed, they get pregnant, they give birth lol. You might want to make sure your platy isn't showing signs of disease, I've seen guppies and mollies be sick when they're pregnant and die before or after actually giving birth. Platies I think are around the same gestation as mollies, correct me of I'm wrong anyone, which is about 1 month. I've never heard of a female get "lumpy" though ._.

 

[Elmware2000]

I think I would go with Puriti on this one. Keep an eye on her and make sure she's not ill. Even my Marigold Swordtails, which are also livebearers, didn't behave like that when they popped.

 

[Zagz]

Do you have a breeder tank you can put her in to make her feel more secure? Or another tank if possible. Livebearer's can hold onto their fry for a time if they don't feel comfortable giving birth. Can you see a gravid spot at all? I definately would keep an eye on her as it seems odd she isn't eating. All of my livebearer's (guppies and mollies) eat before giving birth, the only time I've had one hiding at the bottom is when they are not well. I hope this is not the case with yours.

 

[bman]

What does the "gravid spot" look like?

I have taken pics, let's see if they look good enough....

 

[bman]

Here is the other side..

 

[bman]

Well, she died this morning.

I saw her slowly moving about the tank, and later in the day she would sort of sit on the leaves of the wisteria. An hour later I found her stuck under some low leaves, not moving.

In my haste, I pulled her out and squeezed the babies out to see if they were maybe still alive; but they were not. There were five of them. That was a gross experience.

Upon inspecting her closely, there was nothing visibly wrong with her. The only thing I can think of (mostly my wife's thought) is that she was not comfortable anywhere in the tank to give birth, and held the babies in too long and it caused her internal problems.

Guess you all were right, there was something wrong. Looking back though, I'm not sure what could have been done. What does not eating suggest was wrong with her? (As a side note, she never had a dorsal fin, but still got around just as quick as the others)

Only one more female left. I guess I am going to have to keep a closer eye on her, even though I still do not know what I would be looking for.

Thanks for all your support though.

 

[Zagz]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Unfortunately sometimes we learn what to watch for by the disasters we suffer from. We have all be there in one way or another.

 

[Elmware2000]

Was she doing anything else unusual? eg: flashing (when a fish hits objects like ornaments while exposing their underside due to some irritation), staying at the surface to get some air (especially where the filter is), or anything else unusual?

Maybe you might have noticed something before she started staying at the bottom and not eating.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[bman]

No, I noticed nothing abnormal about her behavior. She did seem like she was the popular female of the two, as she was constantly getting poked by the alpha male. Now with her out of the way, the other female has been getting the same treatment by the leader.

I talked to the lfs guy, which at the time seemed more concerned with checking in a shipment of crap than helping customers, and he said that the babies may have gotten stuck inside the mom, or maybe one died inside her, and that caused the mom to die. He said it was something that happens occasionally with live bearers and there was nothing I could do to avoid this from happening in the future.

I have been keeping a very close eye in the remaining female, and she has been hanging low now. Much of that is because every time she goes elsewhere, the alpha male is trying to bone her. She does come to the surface to eat though, and holds her own where she gets a bite.