Pregnant or sick?

[leikela]

I've had my guppies for a few weeks now and aside from my little scare this week, they're happy little things

I've got some girls and boys in there for the time being (planning on separating them so I don't get overrun with teenies), but as I've never had them before, I've got questions! Is my baby girl pregnant or sick? She looks so huge but she's still practically a baby herself! :-/

 

[phatpaul]

Are the scales sticking out like a pine cone?

 

[leikela]

Not that I can see, she looks like a little ball from the top and almost looked like she was trying to fold herself in half :-/

 

[Homedog98]

She's prego, and about to give birth! She's squared off meaning her belly looks like this: \__/ so she's about to drop fry.

 

[leikela]

She's prego, and about to give birth! She's squared off meaning her belly looks like this: \__/ so she's about to drop fry.

Ooooh I hope so!! Will have to watch her carefully now, daddy is glued to her side, not sure if he's protecting her or harassing her

 

[Homedog98]

Ooooh I hope so!! Will have to watch her carefully now, daddy is glued to her side, not sure if he's protecting her or harassing her

Remove her from the tank if you can. A breeding net, or just a little cycled tank where she can drop her fry in alone would be best. It'll make her feel safer. If not, just let her stick it out I guess.

 

[leikela]

Remove her from the tank if you can. A breeding net, or just a little cycled tank where she can drop her fry in alone would be best. It'll make her feel safer. If not, just let her stick it out I guess.

Thanks for that, I have a net on standby so I'll try and get her in there without stressing her out too much - should I turn the lights off to help her out?

 

[Homedog98]

Thanks for that, I have a net on standby so I'll try and get her in there without stressing her out too much - should I turn the lights off to help her out?

That would probably be best. Just anything to make it more comfortable.

 

[leikela]

Still no babies, I'm now convinced it may be dropsy I'll be gutted if it is, they were beautiful fish (three of them are getting big, all girls). They don't LOOK sick though, that's what confuses me - they're active, eating well and always bob up to the glass to say hello, they're too quick to stare at for pineconing. They look different to my boy, almost like their scales are bigger, but I'm not sure if that's just due to getting big from pregnancy or if it's dropsy. I don't understand :-/

 

[leikela]

Still no babies, I'm now convinced it may be dropsy I'll be gutted if it is, they were beautiful fish (three of them are getting big, all girls). They don't LOOK sick though, that's what confuses me - they're active, eating well and always bob up to the glass to say hello, they're too quick to stare at for pineconing. They look different to my boy, almost like their scales are bigger, but I'm not sure if that's just due to getting big from pregnancy or if it's dropsy. I don't understand :-/

Adding pics - from my phone so they're bad quality, sorry. Managed to snap a few at feeding time before they zipped off to play again

 

[Homedog98]

How long have they been like this again?

 

[leikela]

They've been getting steadily bigger over the last couple of weeks

 

[Homedog98]

They've been getting steadily bigger over the last couple of weeks

I still say prego, you've got all the symptoms, you just need patience now.

 

[Owl307]

definatly prego she should drop soon

 

[GuppyLover]

She is for sure pregnant. I love her coloring, the black tail with a blue tail fin.

 

[James_in_MN]

Still no babies, I'm now convinced it may be dropsy I'll be gutted if it is, they were beautiful fish (three of them are getting big, all girls). They don't LOOK sick though, that's what confuses me - they're active, eating well and always bob up to the glass to say hello, they're too quick to stare at for pineconing. They look different to my boy, almost like their scales are bigger, but I'm not sure if that's just due to getting big from pregnancy or if it's dropsy. I don't understand :-/

Trust the others, she's likely ready to drop fry.

You can't tell dropsy from the side really. The best way is to look straight down at them; the pineconing effect will be easy to tell from above.

 

[leikela]

As if there was any doubt, you were all right! Mama dropped her fry last night! I don't know how many as she had them hiding next to the filter (which I had to turn off and use the second filter for the night in case they got sucked up). I caught ten this morning and put them in a breeder box so they have some chance of survival, I can see a few more swimming around near the bottom too. They're so cute!!!

 

[GuppyLover]

Oh wow, they already have black coloration. They are adorable! I have 8 month and 6 month old guppys. My 1 month old platys are growing faster then the guppys and already have there colors (my guppys only have black, they are finally starting to get colors though.). If you have any questions about them feel free to shoot me a pm!