White Egg Sac ?

Question
Chris;
I recently purchased a blue female betta, and I believe she was quite young... Two questions

1) When I purchased her she had a tail fin, two sides, and above fin. Well, now she has "grown" two from her "belly area". Is this normal.

2) She has a white "egg" looking circle protruding ever so slightly from her belly? What is this? This wouldn't mean she had become pregnant at the Pet Store, b/c from what I heard even if eggs are laid, they have to have a male to fertilize? Or is this an indication she is "Ready" to mate and reproduce?

Thanks, Bob

Answer
Hi Bob;

The "new" fins are probably just her ventral fins becoming longer as she matures.

If she has her breeding tube extended it may indeed mean she has eggs inside her. She doesn't need a male with her for that to happen. She only needs a male to lay the eggs and for him to fertilize them. If no male is around she will simply re-absorb the eggs into her body and the process could start again later on.

Breeding bettas is quite an undertaking. Do a lot of research before you decide to take on this project. The male and female can't live together all the time, just to spawn, so you will need at least two tanks to start. Then you will need a big tank for the babies and then individual tanks for each baby male as he matures over the next 4 to 6 months. Betta pairs can lay up to 400 eggs. Here is a web page about it with photos;

http://bettas.fishjunkies.com/Spawning/lesson1.php

Have fun and good luck!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins