Pregnant guppies... how do you tell?

Question

In my Science calssroom at my school, we have a tank of guppies. As you should know, guppies give birth to live young.
How can you tell when a guppy is pregnant?
Also, how big do guppies usually get? These ones are probably only and ince and a half long.
Thanks so much!

Answer 1

The wild type guppies are only about half an inch (body, no tail). The more common fancy guppies are around an inch, and super guppies are close to 2 inches.
Guppies develop dark areas over their anus when they are pregnant (gravid spot). The gravid spot that is visible is actually the Fry's' eyes. They get pregnant at about three weeks old and can store sperm for up to six months so they are pretty much considered 'always pregnant'. It is possible to buy virgin guppies from breeders, but the can cost at least 5 times as much as regular guppies.
When conditions aren't good. Female guppies can delay the development of embryos, making it difficult to tell when they are going to give birth. Under ideal conditions, mature females will drop fry every 28 days.
Just prior to giving birth, females will develop a 'boxed up' appearance on their underside - look a lot less streamlined.
A

Answer 2

An inch and a half at maturity is about right for most guppies.
- Since the female guppy is usually less colorful than the male, you can first identify the females in the tank. Then, when they are pregnant, their sides are noticeably rounded outward - like a pregnant woman, but out to the sides instead of in front.
- I used to have a netted delivery area within the tank to seperate the pregnant females from the general population when they looked close to delivery.
- I put LOTS of greenery in it for the newborn to hide from their mothers after birth. I also used to watch for new births so that I could remove the mother as soon as possible after delivery as the mother will eat the newborn if she can catch it.
- When the babies were a week or two old, they were usually big enough to go into the general population without getting eaten.

Answer 3

A female guppy can store sperm at 15 days old. She isn't usually Gravid or Pregnant until she is 30 days old. Since guppies store sperm for several pregnancies one could say that all female guppies that have had contact with a male once are perpetually pregnant, giving birth cyclically throughout her life until she either runs out of stored sperm or finds another male and renews her supply. Some females guppies can even invoke gynogenisis if there are no males available. Gynogenisis is the process where a female makes clones of herself and gives birth to them as if they were produced sexually. All fry from gynogenisis will be exact copies and will be female.

Answer 4

Just like anything else that carries live babies, their tummy gets big. If you're lucky you might get to see her give birth. I really don't know how big guppies get as most of the ones I've seen are 1 to 2 inches long.

Answer 5

pregnant female guppies develop a dark gravid spot (where the babies come out). when it gets darker you can sometimes see the eyes of the babies. make sure the aquarium is well planted as guppies (and even the mother) will eat the babies.

Answer 6

Their stomachs get big. Sometimes the mother eats the young, so would be good if somebody could keep an eye on them. Size of the ones at your school are about the size of any I've seen.

Answer 7

at the back end ofthe female guppies if they are pregnant it will be black....your guppies are as big as they will get