A case of mistaken identity

[katyboombaty]

i bought a betta the other day thinking it was a female since it was grouped with the female bettas at the LFS. when i was bringing it home i looked for the gravid spot and couldnt find it. Thought i saw it and didnt worry. i was all excited cuz i thought i got a girlfriend for one of my males. oh well, turns out its a male plakat. real pretty though! red cambodian and all! anyone else have that problem. i didnt even feel like looking too hard to see if it was a male or female and i even asked one of the guys working if there were plakats mixed in. man i love the blank stare i get when i ask things like that!

 

[Iggy]

Yes, even with Splendins, some short-finned males get mixed in with the female tanks at some of our LFS. Going by fin-size is not always the best way to sex bettas.

I have 2 month old bettas, and I am still not able to tell who is male or who is female quite yet.

 

[Franky099]

that is exactly what happened to me!! I bought a beautiful yellow camobian "female", and came home from work to find that she had blown a HUGE bubble nest. "She" is still my favorite, lol

Amy

 

[theeyrietrainer]

hrmm, im still scared with mine. i bought a 'female' on sunday, a nice Steel Blue Double Tail, only yesterday did i begin to panic when i am having second thoughts about her real identity. 'She' never eats enough to get a bulging stomach so it seems impossible for me to see if she has a ovipostor tube, ive searched and searched from the supposed place and i cant find it, even if 'she' is like, having her belly face me! now im getting worried, cause its near breeding time, and i want a backup girl if the first one doesnt work. since she is my back up, im going to use her in the future, but she has to be a girl first. now im thinking she could be a short tail double tail male betta...when i got home and put 'her' in a nice big 1 gallon, i found a few bubbles the next few days, which was kinda scary since she was placed in the girl section. then curiosity got a hold of me, i put the 'female' in a container that is betta-able and placed her inside the 1 gallon with my 1st female, whoa! they first didnt do anything, then the 'girl' began to flare with her flare gill as if she was a guy! the original girl became scared with fear stripes but she didnt have breeding stripes like she did when she was placed beside my male (that wasnt my idea, my cousin must've done it while i was gone! ) so now i guess ill have to look at that anal fin thing, where if its straight down, its a boy and if its angled, its a girl, *sigh* any other fun mix ups???

 

[Iggy]

eyrie, she is a he! Unless I am mistaken, females do not blow bubble nests.

 

[theeyrietrainer]

uh oh! :'( NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! arg, now i need another female...dernn! and the store is in Downtown Toronto! grr.r....my parents aren't going to be happy if/when they find out its not a girl, but a guy, i wonder what it will take for my sister to go back to the store and pick out a girl for me! well, i hope the one i currently changes sex! i want it to be a girl! cause that store had a nice opaque, red butterfly, mustard gas, etc. good colors! well, just as long as i can get another fish, it'll be worth it all in the end, well, they arent really much as bubbles, but i think they are, its like, a thin outlining or something, not those rounded or huge ones, just like consisting of a group of bubbles that dont seem to be much, well thanks for your help iggy!

 

[theeyrietrainer]

well, i checked 'it's' anal thingy, and its not like pointing 90 degrees, straight down, but rather on an angle like my other girl. it does have slightly longer fins and i took a picture of 'it.' maybe i should add some bubble nest since my male blew one up after i had moved him in a 1 gallon conditioning container. well heres a dark picture, i used flash, dern it! dernn it!!!!! oh i also have other pictures, if you cant really see this one, then ask me to post another picture (hopefully more helpful picture!)

 

[katyboombaty]

nice betta! yeah i can see where you would think that the betta is a "she." yeah the bubble nest thing gives it away. my supposed "female" had a HUGE bubble nest after a couple of days. I'll have to post a pic of him as well. luckily i named him Alex which is a good name that goes either way. nice betta though!

 

[theeyrietrainer]

well, HE didnt really build that nest. i found out my plant had these bubbles bubbling up every so often, and the suface its like all skin-like. so i took off the top layer, he never really blew a nest. wel anyway, not to harm to REAL FEMALE, i hide her so she wouldnt see the NEW male that would be breeding with her (since they have around the same coloring!), guess ill hafta find my other chocolate male another girl, he lost it to my dt! hrmm, better go to the store (well, ill get my sister to since shes in that city) and take a good long look for a REAL female. well, i found out my dt was a guy when i put him with my chocolate. once their eyes met, instant flaring. he was trying to bite him too, hehe. and i thought males never showed fear stripes, guess i was wrong! hahahahhahaha!