dalmatian mollies

Question
Hello, my dalmatian mollie (((there is no male mollie in the tank. I got the female already pregnant from the pet store))) had 4 babies today, she may or may not have more, I was wondering how long before the babies can have babies?
Do the babies reproduce with their siblings?

Answer
Hi Katie

If this is your Mollies first birth, she can have 2-25 fry. If she has given birth before, she can have 50 or more. They can also give birth multiple times after one mating. Of course, if you got her from a petstore already pregnant, it is impossible for you to know how many times she has given birth.

Mollies sexually mature at 2 months and are full grown at 3 months. There are many differing opinions about fish inbreeding (mating with siblings) I personally don't recommend it, the fry will have health problems which has been documented in many articles that I read. This is especially true if the inbreeding occurs among multiple generations. When your fry are mature, it is best to add a couple of unrelated males to the tank to insure healthy fry.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard