Pregnancy question

[lyquidphyre]

How can you tell if a platy is pregnant? And the same for guppies? Also, how can you tell the difference between male and female platys?

Is it usual for a guppies spine to be warped if its pregnant?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Lyquid, you can usually tell if the platy is pregnant by it's appearance. It will simply seem 'abnormaly' large in the stomach. For the guppies, they will also get larger in the belly and form a dark spot, a gravid spot, just in front of her anal fin, a sign of babies growing inside.

As for telling apart male and female. A male has a gonopodium, an anal fin that is "folded" into the body and points straight. A female has an anal fin that fans out fully. Just look at the back fin underneath the fish, the difference should be obvious in the two.

I don't think that it is normal for a guppies spine to be warped if it is pregnant, not 100% possitive on that one though. All of the pregnant guppies that I have seen have looked perfectly healthy, just a little fat...

 

[lyquidphyre]

Do the platys form a gravid spot, too? Because some of my platys have black dark spots near their anal fin- thats what I thought it was when I got them.

Thanx!

 

[Devilishturtles]

Yes, all livebearing female fish (guppies, platies, mollies, etc.) have a gravid spot but are not always present on them as they are in the guppies. The guppies gravid spot will become more pronounced while it is pregnant and the forming of a more noticeable gravid spot will occur in the pregnant platies.

I realize now that I totally didn't mention all of this above...it is time for me to go to bed now... Good luck with the fry when they come!!

 

[myriam]

lyquidphyre, this link has a great picture of how to sex a platy, and the same thing will go for guppies and mollies, and all the rest of the livebearers:
http://fish.orbust.net/livebearers.html

 

[PK Tester]

When my guppies are pregnant the have a warpped spinal cord...once delevring babies it looks pretty much normal again. Having babies can easily mess up a human, so I don't not see why it wouldn't mess up a fish. My fish just had 20 fry today . Time for a new aquarium ahaha

 

[lyquidphyre]

That is what I was thinking, because I know how much a females spine warps at 9 months... I have two that have a wapred belly while the others just have a big belly.. hehe

Good luck with your fry!