# Help sexing baby betta



## Slayerofthed (Dec 29, 2019)

Hello everyone, first post here and so glad I found this forum. I've had tanks of tropical fish to larger koi, and only the occasional pet betta growing up. It's safe to say that I am now addicted to the beauty of bettas. For fun, (and before I found a betta breeder) I purchased a baby betta from Petco. I was hoping all of you knowledgeable folks could maybe determine the sex, given that I don't trust in Petcos ability to sex the fish at a young state. I am used to sexing other breeds of fish, but not bettas. Help please 🙂

I have had this fish for 3 weeks, I do not know the age it was when I purchased it. It currently resides in a 5 gal tank, heated with live plants. I feed 2-3 times a day a mixture of brine, bloodworm and crushed pellets.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Lol. You forgot to post pictures.
Preferably flaring side view


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

Well, without a pic it'll be hard to tell. 

But what I always say is that to sex a betta, you want to look for ovaries. By the time a baby betta has started to develop its colors, you will probably be able to see ovaries. Shine a light from behind the fish, and look for a dark shadow behind the round ball of its stomach. It will look like a triangle pointing towards the tail. If you see that shadow, then you have found ovaries and your betta is a female! If you just see the stomach, either your betta is male, or still too young for the ovaries to be developed- so I would repeat the test in a couple of weeks.

Other signs like fin length & shape, the presence of a "egg spot" (ovipositor), colors- those can all vary between individual bettas, and IMO aren't a good way to make sure of your betta's sex. While they _can_ be accurate some of the time, there will always be exceptions, which is why I suggest looking for ovaries to be sure if a betta is male or female.

I am going to attach a couple of pics of bettas with the ovaries outlined, and one male without ovaries, as an example of what to look for.


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## Slayerofthed (Dec 29, 2019)

Uh how annoying, when I originally wrote my question, I loaded photos but they didn't post


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## trahana (Dec 28, 2015)

Based on ventral fins I’d say female! I can’t see the ovaries very well, but I’ve noticed ventral fins tend to be long on males, even when young.
Just to make sure, but you are doing double water changes since your betta is still growing? Baby bettas emit growth stunting hormones that will make them small and stunted if not enough water changes happen. I change mine 2-4 times a week. 



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

Didn't see your reply earlier, sorry. But I agree with trahana- your betta looks like a young female to me! The ovaries aren't large enough to be conclusive because they're still growing, and since males keep their testes in the same spot it's _possible_ that they're actually just well-developed testes, but based on fin and body shape I feel like your betta is most likely a female. Again, do another check in a couple of weeks- I once had a baby betta that I was sure was female, only to suddenly realize they were actually a male. So mistakes, especially with young fish, happen.

And what a cutie!


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