# Anyone know if this works



## llogan (Apr 5, 2010)

Ok say you have a livebearer giving birth, and something goes badly wrong, she dies, and she still has lots to drop, given that mum is just a vessel carrying eggs instead of laying them, would you beable to save the rest of the fry by performing a post mortem C-section? Or do the fry die when mum does? Just curious coz my guppy died and was full of fry, under developed but stil in their eggs, what do you recon, and if so how long will the eggs be ok after the death of the mum? Anyone ever done this or know of it being done?


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## PaulLamb (Nov 15, 2009)

I have read numerous accounts of this being done (Disclaimer: not everything you read online is true. I have not seen any actual scientific studies on this subject - only stories posted by aquariumists. I've been criticized in the past for stating stories like this as fact, so I just wanted to point that out.). According to these accounts, the survival rate is extremely low unless the fry are fully developed and ready to be born (such as when the mother dies in labor). In cases where the fry are still developing inside the egg, most people report that none of them survived to hatch. In some cases, only one or two eggs survived to hatch. Apparently, developing inside the mother seems to be crucial to their development (probably some regulatory functions like oxygen/CO2 transfer or something like that). Additionally, emerging from the mother also seems to be a crucial step in their development (perhaps like butterflies who develop enough strength to fly by struggling to emerge from their cocoon). The few fry that do manage to hatch outside the mother are usually reported to be frail and weak, and often die.

As for how long you would have to do the C-section before the fry would be dead, not very long. The mother's body is a sealed system, and the fry/eggs would quickly run out of oxygen after her death (like locking a bunch of fish in a tiny bag without air - they won't survive in there for very long). You would need to cut them out immediately (preferably before the mother's gills stopped pulsing).


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

I've tried this a few times, but it never worked. The fry suffocate very very quickly. Paul is spot-on about that.


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2010)

paul has his facts right. i have saved a bunch of fry doin this but like he said, the gills still need to be moving. i havent been able to save the fry once the mother is dead. you could try and pull it off but it has to be done the second you see the mother's gill stop moving and even then its a hit or miss situation.


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## llogan (Apr 5, 2010)

Cheers guys guppy died yesterday and i tried it but she was completly empty, my male prefered my otha girl coz she was bigger, thats me just left with platys now, cheers for the tips, hope i dont have to do it again thou.


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