# Myth or Fact? Virgin Female produce more male offspring?



## dynobetta (Sep 3, 2012)

Hello, my name is dynobetta... Can anyone share your experience about betta breeding in terms of sex ratio distortion? I breed bettas several times and most of the offspring are females. In my country professional breeders believe that if you breed your female more than 2-3 times... they produce more and more females... is it true? Anyone with experience of breeding the same female more than 3 times and their results? Is the myth true? Thank you :grin:


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Never heard that. But if they lay eggs then the male fertilizes them wouldn't all females would be virgins right?


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## dynobetta (Sep 3, 2012)

True, sorry my mistake, what I mean is if a female was spawned for more than 3 times, is there any real breeder experience or evidence that... The offsprings turns to be more female than the first spawn?


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

dynobetta said:


> True, sorry my mistake, what I mean is if a female was spawned for more than 3 times, is there any real breeder experience or evidence that... The offsprings turns to be more female than the first spawn?


I would think the amount of eggs decrease or increase like other fish.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

No. I have no real theory as to why the gender ratio will be so much different. I think it is a matter of water conditions, Temperature and how they are grown, not the parents. The amount of eggs successfully produced and grown to adulthood may be higher with an experienced pair though


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

Mo said:


> No. I have no real theory as to why the gender ratio will be so much different. I think it is a matter of water conditions, Temperature and how they are grown, not the parents. The amount of eggs successfully produced and grown to adulthood may be higher with an experienced pair though


i know this is the case with sea turtles and many other reptiles, warmer temperatures while the eggs are in clutch results in more male hatchlings, so it would stand to reason the same could occur with bettas.


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## EvilVOG (Nov 23, 2011)

my first ever spawn with first time breeders produced slightly more females than males, but not by much.


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## Basement Bettas (May 12, 2012)

dynobetta said:


> Hello, my name is dynobetta... Can anyone share your experience about betta breeding in terms of sex ratio distortion? I breed bettas several times and most of the offspring are females. In my country professional breeders believe that if you breed your female more than 2-3 times... they produce more and more females... is it true? Anyone with experience of breeding the same female more than 3 times and their results? Is the myth true? Thank you :grin:


Not true. It depends more on ph and temps. I have had first time females give me 200+ spawns of all females. Changed the ph to be a bit over 7 but the gh is still low and getting better ratios.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

There are no scientific researches on sex out come. But there are several myths, as you may already know.
To my experience, both number of spawns by the female and temp. plays a big role. First spawn in high temps gives me more males than I need (90%). First spawn in low temp results less male but still dominant. While 4th or more spawns in low temps gives me 90% females . I have never produced 100% of either sex.

I'm not sure about pH and water hardness though as I never test my water.


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

My first sucessful spawn was all females. After that, I've had a mix. I think my water temp. was a little low for my first spawn. I have very hard water, don't know if that is a factor or not.


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

I honestly believe that the water temp has more to do with gender determination (and egg survival of a certain gender) than anything.

If fish are like humans, more males will be born to a well-fed female. Typically female infant mammals can survive more stressful conditions than males; this is why most premature babies who survive are female. I don't know how applicable this is to fish, but if it's down to sex chromosomes then it could be true across species. I have heard of first time breeders often getting all female spawns, so that does lend credence to the theory


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