Breeding Stripes

[KansaiBlonde]

I recently bought two female bettas... or what I thought were two females. I began to condition them and put the smaller of the two in with my male - he seemed to love her,and even did a butt-wiggle! Unfortunately while I was elsewhere in the house she jumped out of her jar and when I saw my male next, he was in tatters (still alive) but badly in need of some medication and time alone.

My question is: would you think this is usual female betta behaviour? She/he is small, develops vertical breeding stripes while near the male, has an ovipositor, and has short fins. Do male bettas ever get breeding stripes? It's quite possible that she could be a male plakat, but if I'm going to return her/him to the store I want to know for sure that I just don't have a super aggressive female.

[Setsuna]

Originally Posted by KansaiBlonde

I recently bought two female bettas... or what I thought were two females. I began to condition them and put the smaller of the two in with my male - he seemed to love her,and even did a butt-wiggle! Unfortunately while I was elsewhere in the house she jumped out of her jar and when I saw my male next, he was in tatters (still alive) but badly in need of some medication and time alone.

My question is: would you think this is usual female betta behaviour? She/he is small, develops vertical breeding stripes while near the male, has an ovipositor, and has short fins. Do male bettas ever get breeding stripes? It's quite possible that she could be a male plakat, but if I'm going to return her/him to the store I want to know for sure that I just don't have a super aggressive female.

as far as i know through my breeding experiences only females have breeding bars but you can tell a male from a female easy cause females have a white dot in between thier ventral fin and their ventral fins are much shorter then a males

[ChoclateBetta]

Could they be stress stripes?

[LadyVictorian]

Yes females like males can be aggressive and can beat the snot out of a male. If I let my girl in with my boy she would rip him apart because she's super aggressive and he is more docile out of the two.

[lvandert]

Very young males have been known to have them from time to time, along with an "egg spot". Generally males will have a beard and long ventral fins while the majority of females have short ventral fins and little to no beard.

Where are you buying your fish, if I may ask?

[KansaiBlonde]

Originally Posted by Setsuna

as far as i know through my breeding experiences only females have breeding bars but you can tell a male from a female easy cause females have a white dot in between thier ventral fin and their ventral fins are much shorter then a males

That's what I thought too but I already have one male (very sure about this) and he has the white dot on his belly.

I've just never had a female who ripped apart a male before. I know I should have been watching more attentively but it couldn't have been too long before she jumped out and I noticed and his fins are falling off because of the damage. :/

[KansaiBlonde]

Originally Posted by lvandert

Very young males have been known to have them from time to time, along with an "egg spot". Generally males will have a beard and long ventral fins while the majority of females have short ventral fins and little to no beard.

Where are you buying your fish, if I may ask?

These ones I bought at Petsmart simply because the best Aquarium store near me (Big Al's) was out of females. I know Petsmart doesn't have the best reputation in sexing fish, but I can't seem to find any breeders where I live so they were my only shot at getting females. :(

[lvandert]

oh yeah, they are horrible at sexing bettas lol. Do you have a picture of the fish in question?

[KansaiBlonde]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

Could they be stress stripes?

Nope, definitely vertical stripes. I actually watched her stripes change from horizontal to vertical as she got used to the water in his tank so I'm pretty sure about this.

[KansaiBlonde]

Originally Posted by lvandert

oh yeah, they are horrible at sexing bettas lol. Do you have a picture of the fish in question?

I don't have one now but I will as soon as I locate my camera. I'll post a picture of the other 'female' I bought too, help with them would be much appreciated!