# Anyone have long-finned females?



## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

I was in Petco today while my books were being processed at the bookstore next door. They had just gotten a shipment of bettas in and the females were... whoa. I originally assumed they had put the wrong lids on cups of males, but... I examined the girls more closely and they definitely had ovipositors and more of a female body shape, even if their fins screamed MALE to me. They were HUGE, though, and their fins were nearly as long and flowy as my male's fins! All of these huge girls were veiltails.

I am very seriously considering going back and getting one, although part of me is wondering if that is asking for trouble in my sorority. But anyway... has anyone ever seen or does anyone have any long-finned females? I am very curious if they look like the "girls" I saw at Petco. Could I see pictures? ^_^


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

No one has any?  Guess I'll have to go buy a girl or two so you guys can see! They are seriously the coolest looking females ever... I would have sworn they were males, but they had the ovipositor and a slightly different body shape! They wouldn't be, like, hermaphrodites, would they?


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Almost all of my girls are long-finned. I have pics of some of them in the Planted Tanks thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=212249


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

This is the Aquabid pic of my longest-finned female... (Who just BIT me, btw!)


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

Oooh, they are so pretty!! I would love some HM females, but all but one of my girls are VT.

The females I saw had even longer fins, though. I think I've decided to get at least one, so I'll post pictures once I do! You guys will seriously be amazed at how long these fins are... If I could stock my entire sorority with these kinds of girls, I would! It would look like a bunch of males cohabiting peacefully, no joke!

ETA: They are all VT, so maybe their fins only look longer because of the signature drooping look. We'll see! I don't have time to get any today (gotta work), but I'll head down tomorrow and grab up one or two. If they're still there, that is!


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Oh, you definitely should get at least one or two, then! They must be gorgeous!


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## Emparios (Jun 20, 2013)

I hope they're still there, I'd love to see pictures of them ^-^


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Mnemosyne has longer fins


Willow (yellow) is long finned too.


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

They are gorgeous, Skyewillow!! These girls had outrageously long fins, though. This is just a picture I snagged off of a google search, but the fins were seriously this long! With shorter ventrals, though... this picture is a male, I know. But it's just a reference.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

That's how Willow's fins look, and if I couldn't see her ovaries through her body, I'd be convinced that she was a boy with an "ovipositor". I wish I had better pictures of her fins.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

This was an Aquastar71 female that was up on Aquabid a while back.









This is our long finned VT girl:


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

These girls are all so pretty!! I'm going to pick up at least one girl tomorrow (possibly two... I'm so bad) so I'll have pics for you guys then! You will seriously be amazed... they look MALE, honestly, except... they're not hahaha.

I also might be bringing home this gorgeous HMDT I saw but I swear I don't have a problem... >.>


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I've got a few, they're not like super long like that male you posted but sometimes I wonder lol

Here's my AB girl (who I'm thinking of calling either Lynx or Solarr)


Mystique has longer fins than most my girls but she's also huge...that's Cherry for size comparison lol


And the girl I question ALL the time, I mean, look at those ventral fins!! But you can see her ovaries so I'm calmed by that, but I still wonder XD


Better picture of Mystique when she flare's


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

lilnaugrim, it amazes me how much my girls look like your girls hahaha. I'm all looking at your girls like "There's Kira... there's Kitkat... there's Hime" hahahaha

Yeah, I can't wait to show you guys the girl(s) I get tomorrow! You're all gonna be amazed, seriously~


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## jesssan2442 (Feb 19, 2013)

I don't have any long fins, but I'm gonna watch this thread to see the girl/s you'll be getting!! I'm sure they'll be super stunning!!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Haha I know Seki XD great minds think alike though, right? ;-)

Can't wait to see the new additions!!!


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

Guesssssss who's home??

I couldn't decide between these two, so please welcome my TWO new long-finned veiltail females!! Sorry for the crappy pic quality, these are phone pictures. Their QT tanks are being set up and they'll be in them soon! One of them gets the 2.5 gallon I snagged while at Petsmart the other day, lucky girl. LOL I have named the green one Siren. The purple and white one doesn't have a name yet, but I'm leaning towards Orchid. 



























































Soooo... what do you guys think? I see ovipositors on both of them, so I am fairly positive they are female. Opinions? ^_^

ETA: You can't see it in the pictures, but the purple and white girl is an elephant ear! Her pectorals are clear, but they are long and flowy and gorgeous. I'll see if I can get a better pic in a little bit! She needs to calm down from the car ride home right now, so both are in darkness so they can relax a little.


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## jesssan2442 (Feb 19, 2013)

I think i see the ovaries on the white girl but I'm not sure... I'm not sure about the green one either...

they are both very pretty!! I think you should name the white girl orchid or leah!


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

If you look carefully, the first one has ovaries, so definitely female. The second is a little more uncertain. They're pretty though. Congrats.


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## Emparios (Jun 20, 2013)

They are both so beautiful! I'm jealous 

Edit: If you look closely on the second picture of the green one, you can see an ovispositor ^-^


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Note for all: ovipositers are not clear idicators of a female. Many if not all not matured males have imitator ovipositers and sometimes retain them a little bit after maturity.

But yes I see ovaries on the first girl, I like the name Orchid too for her. Uncertain about the second girl, her ventrals say female but sometimes you never know! They'll be fine for now but just watch them as they grow up! :-D


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

there were a few girls at our local walmart just like those two last night when I was there.


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## BittyB (Jun 19, 2013)

This and Deannas planted thread makes me want a sorority.


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

Thanks guys!! I'm super excited about them. No worries, the green one (Siren) will more than likely be permanently housed in the 2.5 gallon. I think she's a girl, but if she's a boy, there is a backup plan!!

As for the white and purple one, I have decided Orchid will be her name. She is still settling in her temporary half gallon quarantine, but I am very excited to have her! There was another one just like her when I was there Thursday, but when I got there, she was gone today! I'm so glad Orchid was still there so I could nab her! The girl at the counter talked to me FOREVER hahaha. I could tell she kind of wanted the fish, but... I'm not that nice, so I bought her anyway. >.<

Sooooo... since an ovipositor isn't a good way to tell gender, what else might I look for to determine Siren's gender?


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## XxxXnoodleXxxX (Dec 1, 2012)

Tiny Tina has really big fins for a female. :3


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

She does have longer fins . She's cute, my new girl Orchid kinda looks like her. Except Orchid's coloring is a bit more spotty rather than solid like Tina's.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Seki you'd just have to look for the ovaries on her but it's difficult when they're opaque and not translucent of any kind. I can see the ovaries on Orchid just fine. I have reference pictures if you need them


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

Alright, I'll see if I can maybe see them with a flashlight or something. I've been trying to let the girls settle a bit, but a night of darkness seems to have done them well. I'll also see if I can get a few more pictures (maybe some with flash, though her iridescence might make that futile) so you guys can maybe help me solve the mystery of Siren's gender.  Either way she will probably be alone in her 2.5 gallon. It's very bare right now, but I'm gonna try to decorate it up soon. Feeling kinda sick today, so... she might have to deal with a bare tank for another day or so.

ETA: I would love reference pics if you have them, too!! And I dunno if it's possible, but could you point out the ovaries on Orchid for me? So I can have a better idea and look at a fish I actually have here in front of me?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

She should be fine to go into the sorority, even if she does turn out to be male, she really won't do much harm that you won't see. But she does have the body of a female; curvy ;-)

Here's Pineapple normally:


And here are her ovaries outlined, so if you look back you can see them.


Here's another good picture of Aurora's ovaries, the triangular object behind the circular stomach


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

Ohhhh, I see now. Hm, I'll have to see if I can see them on Siren or not. She does have a curvy female body haha but bettas can be sneaky about their genders!

I seriously want to breed long-finned veiltails now!! It seems like there is a lot of interest in them around here, so I certainly would have a market! I just wonder how long it would take to stabilize a line of them?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Seki said:


> Ohhhh, I see now. Hm, I'll have to see if I can see them on Siren or not. She does have a curvy female body haha but bettas can be sneaky about their genders!
> 
> I seriously want to breed long-finned veiltails now!! It seems like there is a lot of interest in them around here, so I certainly would have a market! I just wonder how long it would take to stabilize a line of them?


It depends on your goal for breeding. If it's simply long finned females and males then pair the longest finned boy to the longest finned girl. But if you're looking for form or coloration then it might take a little longer to stabilize but just for fins then you'll most likely see it in the first offspring and more so in the second offspring.


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## paris38 (Oct 12, 2012)

Here's a few they are not super long though.


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

Here's my longest finned girl:


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

Pretty pretty!! Everyone has such gorgeous girls~ It's so unfair female bettas get a bad rap haha. I was telling a coworker that I had a number of females and her response was "Ew, aren't they all ugly and dark? You should get males instead." But then I showed her pictures of some of my girls and she was shocked by how pretty they were! 

Anywho, here are a few more pictures of the two new girls. I wanted to show off Orchid's gorgeous, flowy pectorals (she looks like a mutation of EE... not wide, but veeeery long), and I was trying to see if I could spot any ovaries on Siren. 

Orchid's massive pectorals









Yeahhhh, still not seeing ovaries... her body is just too dark.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Orchid's pecs look like my boy's Gambit's pecs. Actually all the VT's and HM's at one of the stores around here had oblong pectorals just like that, almost diamond shape really! Very cool and the most eccentric was on this beautiful orange VT with cellophane ends and blue iridescence with a dark orange head, it was a toss up between him and Gambit but obviously Gambit won that round ;-)

And Siren does look like a female to me, looks like ovary outlines there.


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

Ooooh, that boy sounds pretty! I saw a really pretty boy at Petco when I was getting my ladies, but he looked ill and I don't have a tank for him right now (nor the space, nor the supplies), so he stayed there. I saw just about every color of the rainbow in him! Much like another member's fish... I think the fish's name is Snodgrass, but I can't remember the member's name!

I wish I had your eyes! I keep staring at her like "Uh... I got nothing." And she stares back like "Uh... whatcha lookin' at?" hahaha


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

It helps that I'm an Art major so I've been beaten over the head to stare at tiny little details all the time XD so that helps when figuring things out with betta's color, gender, little nuances and stuff.

lol I'd like to keep my eyes thank you very much XD


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

Haha I was an English major... and a teacher... I focus on sixteen things at once and don't give my full attention to any one of them LOL


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Lol yeah, I feel that way sometimes as well. Mostly when I've got like 10 million art pieces going at once like I do right now >< oy it get's confusing at times!


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