# Breeding stripes on female betta with no male present



## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

One of my female betta's has breeding stripes even though there aren't males present. Does that mean she is the alpha female of the sorority?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

No, that means she's being submissive. Vertical stripes are generally submission stripes and that's just the girl saying to the alpha or anyone higher than her that "hey, I don't want any trouble", they can switch stripes to solid in a second flat as well.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Really? I thought horizontal meant submissive.


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

Great question!
I think horizontal bars are more stress stripes as I rarely see them unless a female is being harassed by a male or an alpha female has issued a warning. I see breeding bars from time to time in both the female tank and when the girls are jarred. IME the female has to be relaxed for breeding bars to show up. I often see a girl foraging happily on the bottom of the tank around the plants with breeding bars.

Stress stripes (left) breeding/ bars(right)


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Horizontal means they're stressed out as Ilikebutterflies so nicely put pictures up for!

That can mean they don't want trouble but that's more like "OMG there's so many fish here!!! ZOMG What am I doing to do!?! Ahhh, get out of my way!" or "OMG so many fish! Time to hide!" lol. Usually with stress stripes they aren't trying to get to alpha status for sure, sometimes with submission bars they could be challenging the alpha or the next fish up in the hierarchy or letting the higher fish know that they just simply don't want trouble but they aren't going to run and hide. That help a little more?


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

The bars were vertical, not horizontal, so I got confused.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

So wait....she had stress stripes or breeding/submission stripes then?

Stress: horizontal

Breeding/Submission: vertical


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

She had the submission stripes if that's what they're called


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

Ive always found the dominant female to have vertical stripes which makes sense in a soroity. If two jarred females flare at each other they bar up strongly. The loser will lose her bars


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Hmm, well that's interesting trilobite, why would we call it Submission bars then I wonder? I did notice something similar in my two baby boy's who have been housed together from the start, when they were a bit smaller than they are now, more of the fry stage the bigger one; Steve would have the vertical bars and I always knew he was the dominant one. Huh, well that's interesting!

I do have to say though, there are a few girls in my sorority who get vertical bars from time to time and I know that neither of them are the alphas for sure, at least they aren't at this moment. Perhaps some point in the past they were though. Very interesting indeed!


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

She could also be having hormone fluctuations. I think there is a hormonal component to breeding bars.


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