Amorous molly

[Bob S]

I have a molly that just gave birth. We have the babies iosolated and
they are doing fine. My problem is: the male seems to be very amorous
since the birth and the mother doesn't seem happy about it. Is this
normal? She seems very "down" and the male just will not leave her
alone. We have other mollies in the tank but the male is not inerested
in them.

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Amorous molly
>From: (Bob S)
>Date: 9/28/2003 11:34 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>I have a molly that just gave birth. We have the babies iosolated and
>they are doing fine. My problem is: the male seems to be very amorous
>since the birth and the mother doesn't seem happy about it. Is this
>normal? She seems very "down" and the male just will not leave her
>alone. We have other mollies in the tank but the male is not inerested
>in them.
>

Any fish who has just given birth should be able to heal, and left alone in a
hospital tank. They need time to recover.
Birthing isn't an easy task, even if you're a fish.

[^*^ Vosklady ^*^]

"Bob S" > wrote in message
om...
> I have a molly that just gave birth. We have the babies iosolated and
> they are doing fine. My problem is: the male seems to be very amorous
> since the birth and the mother doesn't seem happy about it. Is this
> normal? She seems very "down" and the male just will not leave her
> alone. We have other mollies in the tank but the male is not inerested
> in them.

Hi Bob . . . :)

After raising nearly 200 little mollies over the last year, I understand
your concern. The male may be after the "mommy" molly because she may be the
only female sexually mature to breed at this time (mollies are able to breed
at around four months or so of age). I am firmly convinced that after giving
birth the females exude some type of hormone that the males pick up on and
know it's okay for them to mate again (this is Not a proven fact that I am
aware of, but from what I've seen this is the only thing I can come up with
that makes sense). You'll notice that around a week to a day or so before a
female gives birth the male will be around her, but won't be trying to mate
with her (at least this is what I've witnessed with my own mollies).

Are you sure that she isn't the only female in the tank? (I know, lame
question but I had to ask). If she is the only female you'll want to get
more, it's best to have more females than males simply because the male(s)
will "mate" the lone female to death due to the stress involved.

If you don't have any plants (live or plastic) in the tank, you'll want to
get some. The female will then have place to hide from the male(s). I would
always watch the females in my tank after they gave birth, some seem to take
it better than others and sometimes it varies depending on how many batches
of fry a female has had.
I've seen them simply tired from the whole affair and I've seen them bounce
back quickly with normal energy and not minding the advances from the males.

Another thing you could do, is get a "net breeder basket" and keep it on
hand. These little baskets are cheap and handy. Typically these baskets are
used for fry, but you can also put injured fish in them as well. I have used
it in the past to give tired "mommy" mollies a bit of privacy and time to
recoup from birthing. I would only do this for maybe a day or so, until I
saw that the "mommy" had perked back up. This also gives the tired "mommies"
a break from having to compete for food . . . it's like room service for
them. :)

Hope this helps!

Regards,

^*^ Vosklady ^*^