Pregnant Guppy, maybe sick?

[LorieK]

My guppy has appeared to be pregnant going one two months now. I had two fry appear two weeks ago and one more this past week. Not sure if from her or one of my other guppies. But this one just keeps getting bigger. The last two days one of the males will not leave her alone and she has been hiding, which I've notice they do when ready to give birth. But her back end is not turning gray with eyes, but is red. Is something wrong with her? Or is she about to finally give birth?

Edited June 6, 2023 by LorieK
Added picture

[Cinnebuns]

If you could add a picture it would help a bunch. I'll add some info that may help though. 

First thing to look for is if she is pine coning. Pregnancy can look similar to dropsy but with dropsy they will pine cone. 

2 months is a long time to go without dropping but it can happen in older females sometimes. If she is older this may be fine and she may just have a lot to drop. 

Guppy female have some incredible super powers. One is that they can hold their fry in. They typically do this when they are stressed and/or don't feel safe. They can do this until they die even. The most important thing to do for any pregnant female is to reduce her stress. Here's some ways to do that:

1.  A male chasing her is mostly normal and helps encourage her to drop. If the male is too persistent though it may have the opposite effect. If the male is harassing her too much you may need to temporarily remove him. The amount that is too much is different from fish to fish so you kinda have to observe and make a judgment call. I once had a trio or 1 male and 2 females. Every month 1 female would drop no problem but the other, with the same amount of harassment from the male, would require me removing the male for her to drop. 

2.  Provide hiding places. Live or fake plants work amazingly for this. Pay special attention to the top of the tank as this is where they usually choose to give birth. If you do not have any live or fake floating plants, you can simulate them by making a floating spawning mop. 

3.  Do not move or isolate the female. This will add stress to her. That said, there sometimes comes a point where you may need to try this. All fish respond differently. 19 times out of 20 I do not tell people to move or isolate a pregnant female but if nothing else works it may be something to try. 

I hope some of this helps. Still share a pic so maybe I can help guide better. 

[sumplkrum]

Yeah. A pic would help.

I second the 'add fake plants' or floating plants if you have them. If there's no place to hide, she might not want to drop them.

[LorieK]

I added a close up picture of her. I have plenty of plants and other stuff for her to hide in. But will add some floating ones.

[LorieK]

My guppy finally gave birth overnight. She had 20+ fry, but sadly they were all deceased. Any input on why this may have happened?

[sumplkrum]

If it was her first time, it's not uncommon for them to fail.

Young females tend to not know what's happening. They drop their first batch wherever. Tend to be more stressed and confused.

Older females tend to prepare, find a patch of weeds to spawn near, or even peck other fish away before they drop.
They're also bigger and handle it better.

Stress can also cause them to fail. It is possible for them to eject eggs before they even turn into baby fish.
Usually that's caused by something traumatic like transportation.

If the fish looks healthy I wouldn't worry about it.

If the fish doesn't look healthy and is acting oddly, something may be going on. Poor environment, hidden disease, or maybe the fish has a natural medical issue.

[LorieK]

She is about a year and not her first batch. She's doing great today, swimming around and eating as normal.  Even saw the male breed her twice. Hopefully her next batch goes smoother.

[Cinnebuns]

On 6/7/2023 at 9:04 AM, LorieK said:

My guppy finally gave birth overnight. She had 20+ fry, but sadly they were all deceased. Any input on why this may have happened?

It's possible she held them in too long. 

[LorieK]

Good news, I found 3 fry today when cleaning out the fish tank, so at least a few made it!