Platy Pregnant at 2 Months?!?

[PlatyLady]

So, I could be completely wrong, but I always thought that platies couldn't start reproducing until 3-4 months of age, but in the last few days, I have noticed that my female baby platy (about 2 months old) has been growing very rapidly in the belly region, much like when they're pregnant! There is one male mickey mouse, one pregnant twin gold bar, one sunset fire who is actually dropping fry as we speak, and one male baby platy from the same group of fry as the baby-in-question. Can anyone help me out??

[darkfalz]

All my females are fat and they all look "gravid" but I don't think that's a true indication of pregnancy, just of sex.

In any case, they are 5 months old now, and one of them had fry. I separated the males at about 4 months, after they started chasing the females, but I didn't see any "inserting" going on. But seems at least one of them got pregnant. Since the biggest is still just over half the size of the mother, the fry were absolutely tiny, and I only saw one - the rest presumably died or were eaten.

[PlatyLady]

Originally Posted by darkfalz

All my females are fat and they all look "gravid" but I don't think that's a true indication of pregnancy, just of sex.

Well, the reason I'm puzzled is because her mid region is nearly as fat as my full-grown definately pregnant females' bellies. Otherwise, I would have said exactly the same things.

[Sable]

I don't know about platies, but I know that guppies can be pregnant within a month.

Also, did the batch of fry this girl is from mature very fast? Did you keep the temperature of the developing tank particularly high? Did you feed them lots of high-fat foods, like blood worms? High temperatures and high-fat foods can lead to early maturation and therefore early reproduction.

[PlatyLady]

I think she matured at about the average rate, not partcularly fast or slow. Only two survived (they weren't intentional), one male and one female. The water temp sometimes gets a little high, despite the fact that it's supposed to be set to 76 all the time because the desk that the tank sits on is sort of near our heater (which we have no control over). I do feed them bloodworms pretty regularly in addition to spirulina and regular flake food. You could be right, maybe she just matured quickly due to warm temps and diet.

[darkfalz]

All mine survived, except the three I lost in the first few days.

[PlatyLady]

see, I'm not really trying very hard to save the fry, because my tank isn't very big. Actually I have two other pregnant females right now. One is still a week or two away from dropping, but the other has shown signs of 'fish labor', if that's what you want to call it, since sunday and I have yet to see a single fry. Anyone know what's up with that?

[darkfalz]

That's why I separated the males and females. I have no room for more fish and I don't want an endless cycle of fry being born and being eaten or dying. But seems I was too late for at least one of the girls. But luckily they'll run out of sperm sooner or later.

[PlatyLady]

The trouble with separating the males from the females for me is that I live in a dorm, so it's not exactly like I have a lot of room to go setting up gender-specific tanks. Also, we're not supposed to have tanks bigger than ten gallons...

[Sable]

I know exactly how you feel. Horrible, isn't it? I cheat... I have a 12 gal, but it's not as if they're going to check.

Maybe you could ID the males and the females, then put in a tank divider and put the males on one side and the females on the other?

[PlatyLady]

a possibility, but I've got other fish besides the platies, cories and algae eaters, and I don't think it would be fair to only give them half their normal living space. I also bought one of thos little critter-keepers to keep the fry in. It's probably three or four gallons and I've rigged up a sponge filter and some plants for them. I know it's small, but I think that they'll be okay until I find somewhere else for them. Right now I've got another female that's ready to drop fry any day now in the new tank. That way I've got the babies separated from the others and in a tank that is much easier to divide.

[eon17]

once my sowrdtail has babys like 7 weeks after they were born

[minnie]

I only got my platys 2 days ago from my grandpa who is a breeder(i'have had fish before but this is the first time with platys). 2 of them look pregnent on is tiny, about a centermeter, the other one is about the right age for breeding. She is a about an inch or more. I don't know what a pregnet fish looks like for that matter. Please help me if you know.