egg bound betta

Question
QUESTION: good morning.  i have a female betta that i have tried to breed, 3 times.  she is willing, but never drops her eggs.  she appears and act healthy.  don't know if i should try a antibiotic or not.  please help, as she is beautiful, and would like to keep the line going.  thanks in advance

ANSWER: Hi Lynell,

She will not drop the eggs on her own.  There has to be a ready bubble nest built by the male and he will have to embrace her to get her to release the eggs.  

Here are some other things that you can try to encourage it along:

*Feed them the following foods each morning and each evening in the order listed: BettaMin, Freeze Dried Blood Worms, some live or frozen brine shrimp, then a few live Black Worms.

*Change 20% of the water each day. This should stimulate the males to build bubble nests on the surface of the water along the edges of the tank.

*Put your plumpest female in with the male that has built the biggest bubble. They will usually quarrel for a while. The male may rip the female's fins, she may nip him back, then he'll embrace her, and they'll spawn. You'll need to watch carefully to be sure that he doesn't hurt her too badly.

If they don't spawn, you should remove the female and put her back in the aquarium that she came from, or the male will probably hurt her. If they do spawn, you should still remove the female.
  
Good luck : ) April M.
  
 



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

QUESTION: i have done all of that, and have used different males.  i need to know if there is a antibiotic that i can use or some solution to get her to the point that she can release her eggs, when the male wraps around her.  thank you in advance.

Answer
Hi Lynell,

Anti-biotics treat an illness and there is not one that I am aware of that is marketed for being stubborn, as it sounds like she is.  She may just not be a spawner.  There is a blog on the web of a professional betta breeder that I have read regularly and he has some females that he has attempted to spawn several times with no results.  Some of them just won't, especially if you have tried every single thing above.  You have tried several males, maybe try a different female.  If she doesn't spawn she'll just absorb the eggs.

Good luck : ) April M.