Is my guppies pregnant

[Jackiecm90]

Hello, I have 3 female guppies. The one with the orange tail has been fat since I got her about 2 months ago, the yellow tail seems to be getting bigger, and the smallest grey female has the darkest gravid spot, the two light colored ones have become aggressive with the other fish and have been hiding out in the grass. Do they look squared off? I am unable to see any fry eyes. The orange tailed ones gravid is more orange in color. Please help. I am new to this.

 

[skorpio94]

Hi,
I don't tend to typically breed fish so I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but they do certainly look pregnant, I have had guppies act and look like this in the past, so I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.. Just make sure there are plenty of hiding spots so the guppies can hide if they get too stressed by other fish and it also ensures the fry can hide away when they arrive. this should hopefully reduce the number that get eaten

 

[Jackiecm90]

Thank you. I have been watching them like hawks, but nothing

 

[skorpio94]

How long have they been like this?

Thank you. I have been watching them like hawks, but nothing

 

[Jackiecm90]

Like I said the one with the orange yellow tail has been fat since I got her about 2 months ago. But her anal fin slot thing is getting bigger. The light yellow tail one has been chunky since I got her a couple weeks ago and same with the grey one. The grey one is the smallest but has the darkest gravid spot.

 

[skorpio94]

Hmm, 2 months seems too long lol guppies give birth after 3 or 4 weeks roughly, when I had my guppies they literally were always pregnant constantly it seemed lol although I did read somewhere guppies have to abilty to reproduce even after being separated from the males, to me they still look as though they are pregnant but hopefully someone will shed some more light

 

[Jackiecm90]

When I originally got her she came with a male and they were housed together for a couple weeks before he died. She was rubbing on decorations yesterday a couple times and I’ve read that means that she is possibly in labor but I have no idea ��*

 

[skorpio94]

Yeah that's exactly what mine did and they hid away when it was close to giving birth, I'd still just keep an close eye on them but I think it's fine, youll probably just end up with loads of them haha

 

[Jackiecm90]

Lol. Right I’ve been so excited but after reading so much I’m not sure. I guess be careful what you wish for.

 

[skorpio94]

Yeah I used to get around 30 at a time, every couple months

 

[Jackiecm90]

Dropsy?

So I’m not sure if she is pregnant or has dropsy. She hasn’t ate in almost a week and now the scales on her belly are poking out. And gravid spit seemed to disappear.

 

[skorpio94]

I've never had to deal with dropsy so I can't suggest any effective treatments I'm afraid, but have you tested the water quality recently to see what they are reading?

 

[Desperado070]

they also square off when they are just fat from eating.

So I’m not sure if she is pregnant or has dropsy. She hasn’t ate in almost a week and now the scales on her belly are poking out. And gravid spit seemed to disappear.

No idea about dropsy but once again she is "not" pregnant.
When a female guppy gets pregnant you will know without a doubt.


(You'r third picture also shows the male.
The male has hes belly sticking out...
Knowing females always eat more than males it is kinda easy to know.)

Dropsy: https://www.thesprucepets.com/dropsy-in-aquarium-fish-1381806

 

[Liambomb123]

I would imagine that yellow guppy has dropsy or might even just be bloated are you sure she has given birth the fry already and they got eatten or there hiding one of my female guppies gave birth to fry and after they give birth there stomach is supposed to go back down but hers didnt at first i thought it was dropsy but then found out she was just bloated try feading them some peas make sure you defrost them in the microwave with some water for 15 seconds then peel the shells off as you dont want your fish to eat the pea shells there are tutorials on youtube if that doesnt work i suggest like multicure or some sort of parasite control medication from your local pet store

 

[Liambomb123]

Appart from your other pregnant females i would say they still have a 5 to 7 days left as they have not squared off

 

[Liambomb123]

but some guppies they dont really square off to from what i have noticed with some of mine and they just give birth after 30 days

 

[Desperado070]

but some guppies they dont really square off to from what i have noticed with some of mine and they just give birth after 30 days

They always square off, how much do you feed your fish?
And what?

 

[Desperado070]

I would imagine that yellow guppy has dropsy or might even just be bloated are you sure she has given birth the fry already and they got eatten or there hiding one of my female guppies gave birth to fry and after they give birth there stomach is supposed to go back down but hers didnt at first i thought it was dropsy but then found out she was just bloated try feading them some peas make sure you defrost them in the microwave with some water for 15 seconds then peel the shells off as you dont want your fish to eat the pea shells there are tutorials on youtube if that doesnt work i suggest like multicure or some sort of parasite control medication from your local pet store

If it is dropsy salt would do a lot more than peas...

Low levels of salt in the water aid in the osmotic balance of the fish by making the water salinity closer to the fish's blood salinity. That helps the fish get rid of excess water accumulating in the body, causing the dropsy.

Use platy care or just go out and buy NONE "iodine" kitchen salt.

Appart from your other pregnant females i would say they still have a 5 to 7 days left as they have not squared off

They are NOT pregnant...

 

[Adi Hewitt]

Hi,
After looking at your photos and reading your posts I do not think these are pregnant fish. Looks like bloat or dropsy to me, both of which are PAINFUL & NOT CURABLE! I've been around the hobby all my life (my father had many tanks from 400-gallon tanks to 10-gallon tanks, salt, fresh, you name it, he just loved fish. He passed away a few years ago and my sons have taken up the hobby for the last 10-15 years and I have just gained a lot of knowledge that has been around them all this time. I remember my dad teaching my sons about dropsy and bloat and being very, very clear that these conditions are PAINFUL & watching the fish that appears very much to be true. I would euthanize them with a couple of drops of clove oil until they are unconscious and then once they are anesthetized I would add more until they passed-on. I could not allow an animal to continue to suffer that kind of pain.
We lost a beautiful pink swordtail (a pink comet) who came down with dropsy (which from my reading seems -9x out of 10- to be a form of cancer) and just watching her was so upsetting, we had to put her down, I couldn't let her suffer like that.
We stopped breeding guppies simply because they appear to be a big genetic mess. Females who deliver and are literally deformed after the delivery as it bent their spines with the intensity of it, mothers eating the babies if you don't get to them into a breeder fast enough. Yes, they are beautiful fish but I have never had a breed of fish more prone to every problem in the book as guppies (well, maybe black mollies but the black mollies we breed are of the saltwater variety and seem to do much better than their freshwater counterparts). If you are really set on guppies you may want to try breeding a guppy/endler hybrid. They are beautiful fish and it seems to really put a stop to many of the genetic problems you see with guppies in general. We breed endless and on occasion guppy/endler hybrids and have been very happy with some of the beautiful fish we have gotten. Right now I think we may have a new tail shape in a guppy/endler hybrid. He appears to have a 'trident' tail, kind of like 'Neptunes Trident'. I have never seen the like and we are going to see if we can reproduce it. I'll see if I can get some good pictures to share but in the meantime, I would euthanize the fish with bloat/dropsy. It's good to want to save the life of a sick fish but you have to also take into consideration what the fish is going through. Is it right to allow a fish to suffer for weeks while you try to cure a condition when you are not even certain what it is? Just food for thought.
I hope it works out well for you.
Sláinte
Adi

 

[Jackiecm90]

Thank you for the comments. I ended up euthanizing the one with dark orange tail. She stopped eating completely for over a week and kept getting bigger and bigger and it just broke my heart. The others are ok. Eating and acting normal. But I am starting to realize the pain in the butt these fish are.