Breeding w/ mickey mouse fish

Question
Okay, i have a red mickey mouse platy fish. I was wondering how long would it take for a female to give birth (which i understand these fish are live bearers.) to baby fish? How long is a fish like my mickey in pregnancy? I'm pretty sure I have a female mickey, because it has two gonopodium(sp?) fins. I'm really interested in going to the store and getting a male of this specie and breeding them. So if you could please answer my question that would be so great.
Thanks so much,
Melissa.

P.S. Can you breed two different kinds of fish?

Answer
Hey Melissa,

First off, Females do not have a gonopodium anal fin. What you're looking at is most likely the pectoral fins located just before the anal fin. In females, the anal fin is triangular shaped, and males have a gono. used for injecting sperm into the female.

Typically, a female is pregnant for 4-6 weeks after fertilization. Each mating can deliver sperm enough for 6 "drops" (pregnancies) varying in size from 1 to 100 fry. It's entirely possible to predict the exact moment a female will start her drop, and about how many fry she will have. When a female is ready to birth, her "stomach" region begins to swell into huge proportions in respect to the rest of the body. When this swelling seems to "flatten out" across the bottom into a "square shape" She is within a week of her drop (sorry for the quotes, I'm trying to use terms Petco recommends I use in explaining these things, but i think it sounds silly).

-end petco explination-

Once the square belly is clearly flattened out, you can provoke the drop by shutting off the lights, and tricking the female into thinking it's night time. Also, stress can cause her to slip out a few at a time, so letting your male pick at her a little before putting her in a breeder trap can help coax the little fry out. Depending on how many fry there are, the drop can last for 5 minutes (one to five) or upto 6 hours (one hundred plus) and the female can start, stop, hold off, abort, or otherwise slow / change the pattern of the drop.

Its possible to interbreed platies, such as a rainbow blue and a red mickey mouse, or a green and a sunset fire wag. It's best to pick a beautiful male such as a neon blue, or a high fin, lyretail, etc... and match him up with 2-5 females to get an assortment of fry, colors, mixes, and interesting fish.

I hope this covers all your various questions! Good luck.