Questions about pregnant guppies.?

Question

i have 3 pregnant guppies and i hv alot of questions on them. (i think the easiest way to anser these are to copy paste the qus then answer next to.)

wat do they look like if they are ready to give brith?

(one has like pinky red large area near wer shepoohs and if u look closely ull se like these black dots looking like eyes does that mean, she also hangs around the top of the tank like theres no oxygen or shel go away frm the others.?)

how to tell if boy or girl is the boy a lot skinier on the waist?

the boy always chase the girls.

and i got bak yester day and my frend hu come round wen im on holi says thet she saw only one fry from one of the 3 preg, the today one o them gave birth to 7, is i pos if they only can only have one

/

how do u tell if they gave birth if there are also othe pregnant ones around?

i no its alot of qus but it would rly help if u answer then and if u could atach a photo.:)

thanks

Answer 1

What do guppies look like when they are ready to give birth?

The back curve of the stomach will take on an angular "squared off" appearance.  Their stomach will be very large and their gravid spot will be very dark.  Some people say they can see the eyes of the fry through the gravid spot.  Here is a picture of a guppy that is ready to drop fry within a day or two.

http://www.guppies.com/forums/attachment...

How do you tell if a guppy is a male or a female?

Males tend to be slightly slimmer and more torpedo shaped, while females are fatter and have a dark, gravid spot just behind the curve of their bellies.  Also, females have a fan shaped anal fin while males have a modified anal fin called a "gonopodium" that is rod shaped.  Also, males tend to be more colorful, with larger tails and dorsal fins.

Here's a picture (the female is the one on the top):

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...

Is it possible a guppy female gave birth to only 1 fry?

It is possible, but unlikely.  A very small, very young female may give birth to very few fry her first time.  Sometimes as few as 3 or 5.  If you only find 1 fry it's likely that the rest got eaten.  Guppy mothers will often eat their own fry.  Other fish in the tank will also eat newborn fry.  To save as many fry as possible, provide lots of hiding places, such as plants, especially floating plants.

How do you tell if a guppy gave birth?

The female should be suddenly skinnier.  Also, the males will be paying more attention to the one that just had fry because they all want to be the father of her next batch of fry.