# Female betta eating eggs



## Sab (Feb 28, 2021)

Hi, I’m really hoping joining this site and forum will help me. There is so much advice out there, on internet and from every different person I talk to at my local aquariums. 

I have done a tonne of reading and I’ve decided that there’s really not much I can do except let nature take its course, but I’d really like to know what others here think, regarding my elephant ear purple/pink female. Unfortunately I don’t know her age, but she most def can lay eggs and lots of them so I know her reproductive organs are working!

She is together with a young red male who I was told was a full moon but I dont think so. He looks like he’s a twin tail. Anyway, he is very busy and intent on building and maintaining his bubble nest - every now and again they will do the embrace but at her insistence not his, it’s not usually the best embrace and both get the paralysed look and hang for a while and drift apart, and when she comes out of her trance, every time she will search for any fallen eggs to eat. If there are any, she will eat them all.
He’s usually too busy with the bubble best to notice and I find this v frustrating. Sometimes he notices and picks them up but I’m never 100% sure if he puts them in his nest because his focus after picking the eggs up are to chase her away instead of immediately going to bubble nest.

Is this “normal”? Does one just keep them together until they finally figure it out? It’s been 24 hours  now - fortunately there’s been no real aggression from either side either. They seem to just coexist quite happily, him building his nest, her laying eggs and eating them. Seems rather pointless.
Is this the point where one would say it’s time to look for another female, or persevere?

There also seems to be many opinions on whether one leaves light on or not. Its night time here now, so I have turned light off and separated them just in case something happens overnight, but I can guess exactly what will happen. She is so full of eggs she will release them and eat them, sigh...
Ive watched her do this so many times now.


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## MABetta (Jan 10, 2021)

IMO I think leaving them together overnight would work better. You have stated you haven't seen any aggression. Egg eating might be a blessing.....and maybe she knows they were not fertile. Not sure how many fry you are wanting, but 20-50 sounds like a good number to start. Patience is a virtue, they say . Good Luck!


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Hello! I have also seen Double tail halfmoon betta males called fullmoon bettas. Whenever someone calls their betta a fullmoon I know they are talking about double tails. My double tailed male has so much fin that I wasn’t able to successfully breed him. He has a hard time swimming. It looks more like wiggling slowly than gracefully swimming lol.
As for the egg eating I have no advice. I had a female eating eggs as quickly as male was picking them up. I only got 8 fry from that spawn and never bred them again. I can tell you that virgin males do need time to figure things out. Maybe the next time you put them together he will do better? Hopefully more breeders chime in here. Welcome to the forum!


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## SoCalBetta (Apr 15, 2019)

By chance do you have any pictures of your female and male? To see the size of them to one another.

Id call the behavior of the female betta normal. Are you trying to breed them or just have them coexist? 

Im no expert on breeding but i could give you some opinions.


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## Sab (Feb 28, 2021)

Hi thanks all 
Well, the update is they’re still together, and he is so proud of his bubble nest but I’m so very doubtful there are eggs.
They are the same body size. 
I didn’t know double tails were also called full moons.
He definitely has no issues swimming and can in fact be very fast and agile when he wants to be.
I would really like to breed from them as I believe the fry would be very interesting with the gene combination and I am aware of the work involved and I am prepared. 

is it obvious if there are eggs in the bubble nest? They just look like plain bubbles but he has really done such a good job and is still busy maintaining it!


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## Sab (Feb 28, 2021)




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## Sab (Feb 28, 2021)




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## Sab (Feb 28, 2021)




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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Here is my koi bubble nest I circled the eggs. They look like little white balls. You can try turning off the light and using your phone flashlight to shine on the nest if you think you can pull that off without freaking out your male. It’s possible there are eggs and he stacked more bubbles on them to hide them. Best of luck!


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

If you breed bettas long enough, you will notice various characters. Some don't even display the same behavior during each spawning. In other words, you will get differing replies from different breeders.

Female eating eggs is normal. In fact even males may eat eggs and fry. You need to out smart them to get fertilized eggs - if you end up with no eggs at the end of the deed. For example, place a mesh under the nest so they can't get to the eggs.

Since you saw them embracing, means they have spawned. No eggs means they ate them. You can let them be and they will respawn (if they don't lozse interest in each other) but you will probably get the same result.

I suggest you separate them. Give male a long break (about 1 month or more) because he tasted eggs. If he repeats eating eggs, retire him - unless you really want his offspring. . . If the male isn't eating the eggs, you should have some left. He should have chased the female away. But since there are no eggs, both are probably guilty.

Retire the female - unless you want her offspring. She will probably eat eggs every time. SOMETIMES they change behavior. But they mostly do the same on each spawn.

A good female/mother (like a good male) will not eat eggs nor fry. During spawning, they will help gather eggs and place them in the nest, while the male mostly arranges the eggs.

If you want to try them again, I suggest using clean tank and water and place some kind of mesh under the nest so the parents can't get to the eggs. Once they are done, immediately remove both, and carefully remove the mesh. Lower water level to about an inch, add some bushy stem plants (silk is also good). You can use methylene blue to avoid mold. And pray. You might not have that many fry, but there should be some survivors.

After free swimming, gradually add water level - lets say 1g/day. . . . You don't want to add too much water and make sudden parameter changes as this may kill fry (especially temperature swings).

Leaving lights on is up to the breeder. Mine are mostly in covered dark tubs, only opened to check on eggs/fry. They will be able to care for eggs and fry.
. . . . . . . . . .
Off topic;
Logically speaking, there are no fullmoon bettas. Since a HM is when the fins form a half circle, a fullmoon must form a full circle, which is practically impossible without hindering fish's swimming.

OP; your male doesn't look like a DT. His dorsal is too small for a DT. But he is gorgeous.


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## Sab (Feb 28, 2021)

Seperating and giving them a beak for a month or so is exactly what I had in mind. 
Even though he is so into his bubble nest, it’s clear to me the interest has gone, especially from the female. I’m so glad there’s been no aggression though. Surprised but grateful for that. Bettas are fascinating animals. 
Love this site and the forum, thank you!
And hope the koi eggs hatch successfully


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## Sab (Feb 28, 2021)

Haha and totally agree regarding the full moon description. Definitely impossible - bit annoyed at myself I didn’t think to question this when I bought him but I did pick him for his colour and fins not because he was “full moon”


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Thank you 💜 the koi spawn is 10 months old now. The nest picture is the best one I have of a nest. I’ve only done 2 spawns both within days of each other with different pairs. I was really hoping indjo would respond to this post. I’m so glad! Indjo always explains things so well and I’m grateful for everyone that shares their experience here. This is a great forum


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## Sab (Feb 28, 2021)

Oh wow, well done. Successful spawn then! I’m hoping this one will be because guess what, there are eggs today! I decided to leave them together today because still no aggression and this morning they were “at it” the WHOLE morning so I left them be and when I came home eggs are in the nest!
I’ve removed her and fingers crossed!


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