# female betta problems



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I do not have much luck with females. i wonder if they become egg bound and get toxic from the unexpelled eggs. i read this can be a problem with egg laying fish in general. 
Today my little girl appears to be bleeding under the skin and her fins are torn. She also is bruised around her mouth. She has a reddish hue to her lower abdomen. She is generally gold /pink in color. She is about 1 year old.
Either she has been in a fight with someone or she is bleeding internally.
RC or anyone that has kept females-- what is going on?
Do you know of egg related problems? should I put her in with a male and let them spawn so as to unload her?
She has been in the same tank and with the same tank mates for about a year except for the young male swordtail.
i never see any thing happening in the tank but who knows about the nighttime.
mouse


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

I've had females that became egg bound, but it didn't sound like your females. I have used epsom salt before to let them female release the eggs. I use I tablespoon per gallon added to the water.


RC


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

1 tbsp per gal?? That is quite a dose. I copied from somewhere that one tbsp/10 gal is for constipation. Lol.The girls must get the runs real bad! 
Today she has more blood spots and is doing something funny with bubbles.She takes a breathe then submerges and expells bubble out of her gill slits. She is doing this repetitiously. her appetite is good at this stage. She has not had a bowel movement since I put her in her Q jar -- 36 hours later. 
She has always had a pudgy stomach. I went to the store where I bought her and the females they have there now are the same coloring and are also pudgy-- they get the fish from the same breeder all the time.

I offered her a pea but she is not having anything to do with it.
I also think her scales look a bit strange. It does not look like dropsy (yet) but the scales seem to be almost outlined. I can't really describe it other than I am aware of each scale. Thanks for your comment. I hope she gets better. 
I find females are more suited to community tanks as they don't have those long tails that attract the nippers.
Mouse


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

well, she took the pea finally and now goes nuts when I put them in her bowl! She had a very good poo also.(3 days worth!) She still has the blood spots but is holding her own. her fins and tail are yellowy so she is still noot 100% . I showed her to a male but she took fright and he was not too pleased to see her in his bowl. Hopefully she will recover enough to go back into the tank in a few weeks.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

will my female get eggbound if i have her perminantly housed with my male?
she's looking a little bloated... I don't see how they'd wanna spawn though..coz it's way too cold..might get em a styrofoam cup this week so they have the opertunity if they want to.


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## Imbrium (Feb 7, 2005)

I think it's pretty rare for females to get eggbound. Usually they just reabsorb the eggs, or expell them. 
I wouldn't house a female with a male unless you wanted them to spawn.


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## Bettaman (May 20, 2005)

I love the females because they are more friendly and trusting than the males on average so I usually have 2 to three females at a time but house them in seperate 10 gallon tanks. I have never had one get egg bound that I know of. They have all lived to the 2 year mark with no problems. Sounds like your female may have gotten into a fight. What other fish do you keep with her? Some females can be very aggressive and territorial. Also, if she is sick she is stressed and I wouldn't increase her stress now by having her deal with a male.


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