# When will I know if she's pregnant?



## covertune (Aug 10, 2012)

I bought a female guppy yesterday from a LFS. I want to get her bred to my male ASAP, but I also need to be sure he's the father of any fry she drops, so I'm wondering how long I need to wait to see if she's already pregnant. I'm AWFUL at waiting!

Here's a pic of her, though it's not very good..


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

She will have a big tummy, you will know.
They are not too picky regarding whom they mate with so if you have a male and a female chances are they will do it given the water condition is right.


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

It does not look as if she is pregnant. You can tell whether the female is pregnant or not by looking and seeing whether there is a dark mark in that area, called a gravid spot. All females will have this, but it becomes noticeably darker when the eggs have been fertilized. If you have more than 1 male in with her you will not know whom the father is. It is best to keep 3-4 females in with 1 male. Gotta keep him happy. (Fish Harem) Nice yellow in the tail. She still looks young as well. Make sure your water is just right for best fry outcome.

How to Breed Guppies: 12 steps - wikiHow


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## covertune (Aug 10, 2012)

She's all by herself at the moment, but I don't know if she was with any males prior to me getting her.


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## covertune (Aug 10, 2012)

Well, I don't really know where we're at at this point... Mel seemed to not be doing well in the breeding jar, so after 15 days with the female, I took him out and put him back into the 10g male tank.

I have no idea if the female is pregnant or not. I had thought she was pregnant from before I got her as she started getting fatter a couple of days before I put Mel in with her, but that would make her due in about a week and she doesn't look anywhere near big enough for that. Yesterday I decided that she may as well be in the other 10g (which gets me off the hook for daily cleaning of the 1g jar lol), so I've placed her in there.

I don't know if I should put Mel back in with her, wait a couple of weeks to see if she drops/gets bigger, try a different male... or just ditch this breeding idea and stock my second 10g with something else completely!

This is the female. Pic is from the 14th and I don't think she looks any different today.

Elinor Rigby


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Female guppies can store sperm for up to 6 months from 1 fertilization. She has a batch of young on the way for sure, BUT Mel is probably "NOT the father" (in a Maury Povich voice). 

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

From my experience breeding guppies over the past 8 months, you could be looking at another 3-6 weeks before she'll dump her first "big" batch. Expect to see a couple born here or there in between though. 
Reason I say this is, based on the two pictures, she looks quite young in the first, hitting maturity (& pregnancy) in the second. The first pic she looks quite skinny, probably fattened up from feeding the first few days. 
Regardless of whether or not she was pregnant from a previous male, the first few fry will probably be more similar to her strain than the male's strain. (depends on which strain is more dominant genetically)
Also if you've been keeping her in a 1G jar since you got her, it will slow down here growth rate & fry production. (due to small container & no heat/filtration)
I've found that in a 20G (divided into 2 10G sections) @ 7.0pH, temp @ 78-80degF, sponge filters, females will be mature & pregnant at 4-6 weeks old, males too (except pregnant , and giving birth @ 8-10 weeks old. (with daily small feedings)
I currently have 2 males in a 1G pale, they have taken 8+ weeks to hit maturity (no heat/filtration), 1 Breeding pair with fry in an unheated 5G with hob filter, the fry are now 4 weeks old, look like another 2-4 weeks until maturity, the female just gave birth 2 days ago aswell. 
Keep in mind though, she may have an abnormally large drop of fry aswell, I purchased a female from my lfs several months ago when I started, she took forever to drop the first batch (2 small drops of 6-10 fry before), when she did there were over 100 fry! I had to purchase another tank to put them in, as I didn't have the space at the time.

As for putting the male back in with her, I just leave my breeding pairs together, that way when the female gives birth, there will be a greater chance of the next batch of fry being from the current male she's with.

To ensure that you get fry from your male, wait till after she gives birth, separate at least three females from the fry before the males are mature, choose 1 or 2 or all of those females to breed back to the male. This will give you fry closer to the males genetics. 

Sorry for the length of the post, Hope this helps you.

Darryl


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## covertune (Aug 10, 2012)

So basically it's just a complete crapshoot until I can get a guaranteed virgin female, and then I wont know if Mel's babies are 1st or 2nd generation. =P


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## mollyb (May 18, 2010)

If you put them together, and get some fry, I would then keep a close eye on the babies, and take out any obvious males, until you hopefully have a tank of virgin females, then put the one you like best in with your male, should only take 4 - 5 months. Or you could just put your male in with all the virgin females...


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## Jasonator (Jul 12, 2011)

If you have a female guppy that spent more than 5 minutes with a male, bet the whole farm on the fact she is thoroughly knocked up!!:bigsmile:


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

I took a look at your photos, based on Mel's colouration, and your females colouration, there's a very good chance you'll get fry from Mel's genetics very soon (1st or 2nd drop), even if they're not from Mel, they might look like him, they look to be very similar in colour/strain. (though who knows really)

(Very nice yellow male BTW)

Good Luck!


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## izshotiz (Dec 5, 2012)

when she is pregnant she will get fater later you will she black around her tummy then after that she will get biger and the black around her tummy will increase


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## victor123 (Apr 4, 2013)

Don't hurry you can recognize her tummy will be fat , but you cannot say when they breed


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