Betta breeding ?

bettafrenzy

I am very new to this, so hang with me..
I have a female Betta that is about to burst( very pregnant) The male I have just has no interst in her at all, really more like swims the other way when I put them together. What would you do? Buy another male, will she die if the fry is not expelled? He is in a seperate bowl, and will not make a nest( bubble) any sugestions?
Thanks

fish_4_all

The female will not or at least should not die if she is full of eggs and does not get them fertilized. To be honest it sounds like she is constipated and is bloated from it. I would cut back on the amount of feeding you do, feed her some boiled squished up peas and only feed her the food specifically for bettas. Maybe 2-3 pieces a day with the peas daily until she loses the big belly. I could be wrong but I don't want you to lose her if it is constipation. I lost 2 males to it because they were in a community tank and they ate lots of other foods and probably too much.

bettafrenzy

She's now expelling eggs- I have her seperate from the male, but next to each other in hopes that he would build a nest, but he still hasn't. They are in 1 gallon tanks next to each other. She's taking the eggs into her mouth then spitting them back out. I don't want to loose her- don't care about the fry.

fish_4_all

That's a good sign then, at least she is healthy and not constipated. It might be nothing more than a male that is too young, too old or sterile. It can happen in the trade with mass inbreeding if the stock isn't a good one. Might try another male to see if he takes to her a little better.

bettababy

Many males won't blow a bubble nest until the female is somehow introduced. There are a number of ways to do this, but in a 1 gallon tank, I would put a LOT of decorations in there, including something that floats, and see if things change over a 24 hr period.
When breeding bettas, be forewarned, you will have to spend a lot of time watching them very close so they don't injure each other. Their mating ritual can become quite brutal.
It is also not typical for a female to expel eggs. Usually the body will absorb them if they are not fertilized after a period of time. If it is truly eggs she is expelling, she will simply eat them and it won't hurt her. She'll produce another batch soon enough if her feedings are good and healthy.
Be forewarned BEFORE the breeding of your female is successful. They can have up to 100 fry in a spawn, and these fry need specialized food in order to survive. Be prepared to hatch your own artemia (baby brine shrimp) to feed them, they need extremely clean water, are very slow growing, but need to be seperated within the first couple of months... so each fish will need a container of it's own. I have had spawns of up to 90 fish survive at a time... this can be quite overwhelming to someone who isn't prepared, its a lot of work. Finding homes for them can also be a challenge. Pet stores won't take them until they are 6 - 12 months old because they are so slow growing and slow to get color. Most will stay a pale pink/peach color until well into the 4th month, and it can be hard to tell male from female before 6 - 12 months. Breeding bettas can be a lot of fun, but it can also get expensive and be a lot of work. Because the mating ritual is so stressful to both fish, if you are not intending to raise the fry, I woud NOT persue breeding. It is not uncommon for the female to sustain permanent injury during mating.
I hope this helps.