Is this a good idea?

Question

Ok, I have had a beta fish for about 2 months now. A friend's beta
had babies, and he sent a note home for us to know. The babies were born over Thanksgiving, and I am pretty sure mine is full-grown. I am having trouble finding it's gender. I recently checked out 2 books on fish. They only showed one picture of a female and it was just a fry. The rest of the pictures were males and I looked at my fish and the ones in the book, and they are so much bigger finned then mine. I don't know if it is a male or a female, and if it's a girl, I can add it with my other tank. What I want to do is print a life size cut out of a female betta fish. I will cut it out and tape it to a pop sickel stick. I will move it up and down to see my fishes reaction. I read that if a male sees a female, it will start to biuld a bubble nest and flair up it's finns. So , I will se what it does to try and find the sex of it. so do any of u have life size pics of a female beta? post the link if u do!thanks !

i can't post a picture with out my dad or mom, because i dont want to break it.

I did what you said with the mirror, but all my fish did was rub it's side on the glass. Then it sawm really slow from side to side. I dont know what to expect if it's a girl or boy

Answer 1

Here are some pictures that is life size. http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/6/6a/180px-Female_betta_closeup.jpg
http://www.missouriaquariumsociety.org/Anabantoids_11.jpg
http://www.petresources.net/fish/anaban/pics/bet_splFEM_1S.jpg
Hope this Helps!!!!
Well actually, they are a little bigger than life size. I would recommend got to google images, type up female betta, and look at those pictures.
http://images.google.com/images?q=female+betta&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&imgsz=small|medium|large|xlarge

Answer 2

You may have a male of one of the "wild" species of Betta. If this is the case the fish should react to a mirror outside of it's container by flaring it's fins and moving about in a threatening manner,if the fish is a female she will not react to a mirror.

Answer 3

the tail fins should be the tell tale measure with most Betta's I think. Why don't you post a picture of the fish you are inquiring about and lets us give you some follow up on that.

JV

Answer 4

Females are smaller. Have short fins and are usually drab in color or have very little coloring. They are olive greyish brown. May or may not be striped down the length of the body.
A mirror will work to see if it flares at its reflection. The little description of the fish sounds like a female.

Answer 5

I suggest going to this site: http://www.bettatalk.com/how_to_sex_bettas.htm

generally though, males have longer flowy fins, females have shorter fins. males have a "beard" that their gills and flare a lot try a mirror instead). females have a white spot/tube on their bellies and are often fatter than males.

it's very very helpful. by the way whoever answered first, females are NOT dull. I have a tank full of females that are blue, green, red, yellow and pearl.

here's a pic of one of my males flaring at one of my females (don't keep males with females! this was temporary):
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/4296/nonameqm2.jpg

Answer 6

Just use a mirror. Faster and easier. And more accurate. If he attacks, its a guy. If she doesn't, it's a girl.