Yellow Lab Holding

[jratuszn]

I am pretty sure that my largest female lab (about 3") is holding. At first I thought she was just antisocial, but she finally stuck her head out of her hiding place, and it looked like it was full of marbles. Is it necessary to manually "strip" the fry from her mouth? I'd estimate she's been holding for about 2 weeks. She isn't eating (that I've noticed) but she still looks healthy and fat. I'd appreciate any advice you AC keepers may have.

Thanks!

-J

 

[ferret]

She'll release them when they're ready. You could possibly move her to QT until she does so.. Do you want to keep the fry?

You may want to put her in QT for a week after she releases anyways, as she'll be weak from hunger and need a bit of time away from the male's aggressive courting to recover somewhat.

 

[jratuszn]

I'd like to keep the fry, but I think netting the female or the fry will be next to impossible without stressing them to death (unless I get lucky and she strays away from her hole in the corner). As far as being harassed by the male, I don't think it'll be too much of a worry- she's twice as big as he is, and already chases him out of the way if he gets too frisky. Will the mother protect the fry once she release them, or will they turn into dinner for her and dad?

Thanks for the speedy reply!

-J

 

[ferret]

To be honest I don't know. I haven't heavily read up on African breeding patterns. I know Lake Tang Shell dwellers won't eat fry until they feel the tank is overcrowded. SA cichlids are amazing parents. But I don't know about yellow labs.

 

[Enki]

Chichlid-forums has some really good articles on this topic:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/breeding_list.php

The forums are not nearly as friendly and helpful as here, but they do have some good articles

 

[ferret]

That's not entirely true.. The attitude is much more serious there, and sometimes a little less friendly, but they have twice the traffic and have tons of good resources. But they are solely cichlids.

 

[shawmutt]

That's not entirely true.. The attitude is much more serious there, and sometimes a little less friendly, but they have twice the traffic and have tons of good resources. But they are solely cichlids.

I haven't had a problem in there either.

 

[Enki]

Mea culpa!

sorry guys I wasn't trying to put them down, I have just found the overall tone of this board to be very friendly, and that board to be much more serious. Not mean or UNfriendly. I have learned a LOT from that site. As I have here

 

[madasafish]

Hehehe. Compared to most advice sites, AA is really really friendly! Not surprised you said that Enki. I've had only good experiences at cichlid-forum, but it's not the family site this one is! Ferret's right, they're quite serious, but I've PMed with a couple of really nice ppl there.

Sometimes it's just nice to have a specific-problem site for more advanced questions...

 

[ferret]

I should also note we share a ton of members with them ;P

 

[madasafish]

hehe right! I know of at least 4!