Baby Mollies

Question

Female Mollie   QUESTION: Hello Ron
i bought a black female Mollies early last month and she was already pregnant and because i had no experience yet i did not no what to look out for and i went on a weekend holiday with school ( my mum fed my fish ) and wen i came back she had already had the babies but i cud not find them so i am guessing they got eaten. so this month she is pregnant again i have heard that they have babies every 28 days but my female is on 30 now! i added a male 2 weeks after she was put in my tank and they started breeding. so i was wondering would she get repregnant or something and start the 28 days after she met the male or not?? she has been hiding in the plants away from the male and other fish, she is fat and sometimes swims around loads then sometimes just stays still. so i put her in the breeding tank last night so i did not loose the babies but she still has not had them... she does not like it in the breeding tank but i don't know what to do i don't want to stress her out but i don't want to loose the babies this time !!!
can you please give me some types of signs i am looking for before she has the babies ? like behavior change or anything... and how often do they have babies??...and if you have any pictures of pregnant Mollies please could you send them that would really help!
i have attached an image of my female Mollies in this could you give me a ruff estimate of when she might have the babies ????

Thank you x ( sorry it is so long )

:)

ANSWER: Hi Kim,
  Mollies CAN have babies every few weeks, but that doesn't mean that they will. It is up to the female.  Another interesting thing about mollies and certain other livebearing fish is that for many species, they do not need to remate every time. The females can store sperm from a previous mating and use it for producing multiple batches of kids over many months. In addition, the development time is temperature dependent so it will not always be exactly 28 days.  So, all you need to do is wait and see.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: ow right thank you x
but i dont like her in their she does nt like it so do u now how long until she does ?? her last batch was 32 days ago and the permanent temp is 26 degrees is their any way to tell ??

ANSWER: Hi Kim,
  There is no way to tell for sure.  The fatter she gets, the more likely she is to give birth but there are no guarantees.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: ow okie thank you Ron :)

Answer
Hi Kim,
   The most common way I have found to determine when such events will occur is to watch the fish non-stop for about 2 days straight.  Then, when you can't help it but you need to do something for about half an hour someplace else, like eat or take a shower.... well it is right then that your fish will choose to spawn ! :)   It seems to work just
about every time...

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>