# Bearded Female



## hannat (Oct 9, 2014)

Hello!

A couple days ago I bought a tiny little, very healthy CT female from PetCo. She must have just arrived, as she is vibrant, active, and ate on day one. Yay! 
Out of curiosity, I held up my handheld mirror to see how she would respond. Sure enough, she flared at it and a tiny red beard dropped out from her gills. How common is it to have reflection aggression and beards in females? She's my first female betta. She appears to be getting more eggy as the days pass, so I believe she was labeled correctly.


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## InsertCheesecake (May 6, 2015)

strange. maybe its a he with a short tail. (well it should be common that people can mistake Bettas for having short tails as females)


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## artemis35 (Jul 11, 2014)

> How common is it to have reflection aggression and beards in females?


All female bettas have beards, and many (most?) will flare at their reflection or other fish (same thing in their minds).

Congratulations on getting your new girl!
Female bettas are so much fun; it's too bad so many people pass them by.


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## AukWord (Mar 15, 2015)

artemis35 said:


> All female bettas have beards, and many (most?) will flare at their reflection or other fish (same thing in their minds).
> 
> Congratulations on getting your new girl!
> Female bettas are so much fun; it's too bad so many people pass them by.


I agree--I enjoy my girls as much as I do my boys.

OP, make sure she's not bloated.

That sometimes gets mistaken for being "eggy," and with her recently having been in pet store conditions, just monitor her closely. ;-)


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

All my girls have little beards and spend a lot of time flaring at each other! :-D


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

Post pictures Hanna! I want Irene pic spam! I sent you Angelus spam! lol


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## hannat (Oct 9, 2014)

I will soon! I need to just set down with the good camera for a while. She's a feisty little girl though! Didn't take her long to figure out that I mean food.


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## Strawberry12 (Mar 6, 2015)

ive noticed when males flare they will turn to the side (to appear bigger?), females will flare head on.


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## hannat (Oct 9, 2014)

I've noticed that too; particularly in my Plakat boy. He always curves his body to appear bigger, but Irene (my female) flares head on and often dives to the bottom of her tank while still facing the reflection.


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

all I have are boys and each and every one turn to the side as they flare. Trying to appear much bigger and tougher than they really are.


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