One heck of a bent spine!

[Kat_Rigel]

What to do, what to do.

I got some guppies in a trade, 3 males and two females. One of the females died during transport (stupid USPS had the box for 2 weeks! Should have been 2 days. I'm shocked anything survived.) I've got everyone recovering now, but holy heck, look at the bent spine on the surviving female! Of course the female that died looked great with no deformities. The one that survived probably needs to be put down anyway. (Long story as far as how I got them, basically these were the only females available, not the sender's fault. I'd rather not play the blame game atm.)

Just feeling super grouchy that I can't really use these to breed now. Everyone agrees that I have to cull that female, right? Ugh I'm so irritated after all the issues with USPS that I just want to take the rest of them (3 males) to the LFS and move on with my life. If the female is that messed up, I'm not confident about the male bloodlines either. Thoughts? (Seeking some pity here lol) What would you guys do with the males? I'd rather start from scratch and invest in a quality bloodline (I'm a cheap goober and that's why I got into this in the first place lol) I have NEVER seen a spine that messed up!

[RovingGinger]

Holy crapoly, I thought my poor little Checkmark was misshapen but that’s just nuts. Can she swim decently or is she resting all the time? 

I’ve had a few with bent backs and I separate them out into a different species tank. Definitely no breeding allowed but hey if you have the will to live go for it little buddy. 

[Kat_Rigel]

2 minutes ago, RovingGinger said:

Holy crapoly, I thought my poor little Checkmark was misshapen but that’s just nuts. Can she swim decently or is she resting all the time? 

I’ve had a few with bent backs and I separate them out into a different species tank. Definitely no breeding allowed but hey if you have the will to live go for it little buddy. 

Yeah it's swimming like it doesn't even know anything is wrong with it!!! I hate culling by death; I might toss it in the outdoor pond and see how it fairs (I live in California, no freezing temps here.) I just don't have enough space to keep a special cull tank indoors.

Every time I look at the picture I am shocked anew! 😂

[ange]

I see a lot of livebearer hobbyists keeping cull tanks where there's a moderate chance the fish will be eaten (like how @Cory is with the turtles if I recall correctly) but they're otherwise free to live out their life. Once my CRS colony is at a point where I should cull I'll likely do the same.

I'm impressed by that spine. Hopefully she's otherwise okay! I'm on the same page as @RovingGinger.