# Female Betta tending the nest???



## tzezuko (Nov 22, 2010)

Ok...so here's the situation

I recently purchased twp halfmoon betta for breeding purposes and currently have them housed in a divided 10 gallon tank. They can see one another but not get to one another (or so I thought). I went away for the weekend to visit family, leaving my babies in the hands of my fiance who swears he's been feeding them properly and since they weren't going into a feeding frenzy when i fed them, I suppose that they must be pretty content. 

When I came back on Monday I saw a rather strange sight though. My female has created a very small bubblenest on the edge of the divider. There are eggs in the nest and she's tending them rather diligently. My male seems uninterested for the most part. Is it possible these eggs were fertilized or is poor *Lady Violet* tending eggs that will never hatch?

Also...I thought the female would eat the eggs not tend them! I know they sometimes help right after mating, but this is all her doing as the nest is completely on her side and _*The Artist F.K.A. Prince*_ (my purple halfmoon male) is definitely on the other side of the divider. The divider seems to be up and separating them as it should be, I checked for bowing or perhaps any other gaps but I see none!

I'm going to give it a few days to see if they hatch. They are right up against the front of the glass too so easy to see, impossible to move... >< i just had a spawn reach the 3 week mark and now I might have another spawn to tend! OMG!!!!

So...um, is this really weird or has this happened to others before? From everything I've read and researched the male tends the nest and has to squeeze the female in order to get the eggs out right...? And once the mating is done he chases the female off otherwise she eats the eggs! Right?!

Well, there was no squeezing and no chasing yet there are eggs and there's a bubblenest that my female has created! This is really quite strange and right now I'm afraid to move anything!


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Females can and will tend a nest and eggs, however, rare.....females in the same water as a male the hormone/pheramones passed will stimulate the female eggs to ripen and the urge to spawn and procreate in breeding age fish can be really strong-the odds of these eggs being fertile is slim

The male wraps the female and their vents need to be approximated for fertilization to occur-this stimulate the female to release her eggs at the same time the male release his milt........the male does not squeeze the eggs out of the female although it may look like it

Congrats...you have a very special female with good prenatal instincts...she may even be one that will tend a second nest in a multi spawn set-up and that is rare too.....


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## tzezuko (Nov 22, 2010)

hehe, perhaps so! She's a very sweet girl. I have the other spawn next to her and she watches the babies with interest. They aren't the least bit afraid of her which is nice. I'm thinking these eggs aren't fertile either but i surely won't toss them out! I'll give it a few days to see if they hatch by the very off chance that somehow they were fertilized. 

I do feel bad though...I was gone for only a few days but now I feel like i've neglected her needs! Poor baby. I wasn't planning to breed them next though either. 

Another question -in case the eggs do hatch- how long till I can move them to another tank? I do a partial water change every week to 10 days depending on how the water and gravel look and was planning to do a water change when i got home. Now i'm afraid to disturb anything but also fearful of what could happen if i let the babies grow in water like this!


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

If by chance they do hatch-the second you see tails I would get a small container like you would use to artificial hatch a spawn and as gentle as you can lower the cup so that the fry and nest float into the cup and then float this in a heated tank attached to the side so it doesn't sink and then once they are free swimming and ready for food either release in the tank or keep them in the small container until they are eating good and growing.


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## tzezuko (Nov 22, 2010)

KK Will do! I'll have to move the female out of the tank then too since i'll have 2 floating containers in there with 2 sets of fry >< OMG i'm excited and worried at the same time!


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## bettabreeder123 (Nov 7, 2010)

possible and the female couldve droped the eggs when seeing a female becuase theres a risk of the female dropping eggs when she see thes male and some females could make bubble nest like this guy on youtube who relied on me to give him tips on breeding said his female made a bubble nest and she is full of eggs.


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## tzezuko (Nov 22, 2010)

hehe, there are no other females around. Its just Lady Violet and Prince with the babies in a little container floating on Lady Violet's side. So i know for sure that she didnt drop them because of another female. I guess she just dropped them out of excitement at seeing her brother.

I have bred betta before and have been an avid betta momma off and on for years but this is the first female i've seen that will tend the babies and do all of the work on her own. I was just shocked! LOL

Now that i think back, my irid/green girl loved to blow bubbles in her mini-tank. She doesn't do it now in the sorority tank though :9


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## JaspersANGEL (Oct 12, 2009)

Aaaah cute! As DQ said "you have a very special female with good prenatal instincts"
She's born to be a momma!!


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## bettabreeder123 (Nov 7, 2010)

oh, but my female betta when spawning she would just lie there are she ACTUALLY made 1 bubble nest and some females when getting a breath they tend to blow some bubbles out os the flaring part or out of mouth


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