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Female Betta: Eggs Causing Lethargy

YC wrote,

Hi Christie! I have a quick question for you. When female bettas are
pregnant with eggs, and a male is no longer in sight, do they become
lethargic and have trouble eating? I was wondering how much energy reabsorption of the eggs cost them.

A: Well, my specialty is general health and not breeding so I’m afraid I can’t say exactly how lethargic females get when full of eggs. As much as I would LOVE to be breeding regularly I have really done just a little, mostly just to gain knowledge. The females I have bred really haven’t gotten all that big and my breeding success… well I haven’t had any. 😛

That said, the extra weight and pressure, and expended energy used to reabsorb the eggs could certainly lead to some lethargy. One thing you can do to help speed up her metabolism and thus increase her appetite and the rate she reabsorbs the eggs is to slowly raise the water

temperature to about 80F (26.5C). If you’re not already, try feeding easy to digest foods that won’t absorb a lot of water like daphnia, blood worms and brine shrimp. These tasty bits may encourage her to eat and will help give her the energy she needs to reabsorb those eggs.

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Maddy: Christie F is a Betta splendens hobbyist that enjoys spending time caring for her fish and helping new betta keepers learn the ropes.

View Comments (5)

  • hi!
    i have a female betta fish and i have only had her about a week. at first, she had an egg spot, looked like a pimple or something, but i didn't know what it was until just recently. but as of this afternoon, the spot has sort of "disappeared" and now there is a sort of…puffy area there instead? looks kind of like it's peeling or something, i don't know how to explain it. and she mostly spends time at the surface of the water and doesn't swim as much or eat. i was wondering if this was something that had to do with eggs, or if she might be sick. any information would be greatly appreciated!

  • ihave a female betta with all ur symtoms she got pregnat the second day i had her the dad didnt even build his buble nest and still i put them together and now she is pregnet

  • I have a female betta fish at home,and it has a white dot on it’s belly,and it’s belly is big,but I don’t have a male betta! what can I do?