# Female betta just "not interested"?



## Nijis (Jan 25, 2012)

*Okay, let me start off with saying, the question below just does not relate to me, I just found it on a website. It never got answered, and I was curious about it.

*I currently have a ten gallon tank separated into three sections with a plastic mesh separator. Two of the sections are equivalent to 4 gallons each while the middle section is about 2-3 gallons. On each side are male bettas, and in the middle is a female. Right now, the males are bright and healthy and making bubble nests, and the female is plump with eggs and the white dot on her belly is sticking out, showing that she's healthy and I assumed ready to breed.
I put the female in a cup and floated it with the older of my male bettas and he flared and swam sideways, spreading his fins to show off, circling around the cup. A few times, he lunged at it, but she didn't seem phased by it. In the beginning, she flared back, but after a while seemed content and only watched him try to show off. 
After a few hours, I let her into his section and he continued flaring and showing off, but she completely ignored him. She'd look around even though he'd be in front of or next to her, and as if he wasn't there, swim right by to take a breath of air at the top of the water. He'd follow her and even cut her off, swimming sideways with his fins flared. Eventually, he bit her, taking a piece of her tail fin off, and she of course ran away and hid, and every time she'd come up to breathe, he'd approach her again and she'd flee and hide.
Even though they seemed ready to breed, and live together and see each other through the mesh once in a while, the female betta seems completely put off by the male. Is there something I'm not understanding, or is she just not interested despite being plump with eggs and showing breeding stripes? Were they supposed to do this longer, or was putting her back in her section after half an hour a good idea? I'm considering waiting a few days and trying again, or may introduce her to the other male.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

The person probably hadn't conditioned their bettas properly, which is why the female wasn't interested in breeding.

I have females full of eggs in my sororities but that doesn't mean they are ready and conditioned for breeding.

I have never bred splendens, but my wilds always require quite a few days of conditioning with live and frozen foods before they'll even think of spawning. Otherwise they just chase each other around the tank and squabble.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Isolate the female for a few days. No other bettas in sight. Then flare her to another female or a mirror. She should begin to flare. Keep her in solitary while conditioning and flare her regularly each day. Near the end of the conditioning period, flare her longer - say 30 minutes to an hour. She should soon begin to flirt swim in the next few days (if she hasn't done so already).

Show her a male - if she was moved to a smaller jar that would float in the breeding tank, give her about 15 minutes to settle. Flare her to a mirror just to get her going. Then float her in the breeding tank where a ready male is. If they flirt swim, they're ready to breed. If not take her out and try again the following day.


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