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Need some information.... Exactly what does it mean that a betta could be egg bound? Are there ways to prevent/treat this condition? Currently I have several female bettas in my 55 gal tank - and along with the other community residents, there is one male.... I have noticed that one of the females has become quite large - seemingly full of eggs..... If no mating occurs, will the eggs automatically be released by the female OR is this a risky situation? If so, what can I do about it?
Thank you for any knowledgeable input you can provide.

To thine own self be true...

Okay - I'm a slow learner! Did a search using "egg bound" and found a thread in the Labyrinth forum which provided quite a bit of helpful information in regard to helping the egg bound female.... One question still remains, when is a female considered egg bound? I mean, how do you distinguish between egg bound and just full of eggs? I know that some of the threads mentioned the eggs may be released after a water change, etc. And the link that Callatya provided even had a "tea bag" remedy that I printed off - "just in case".... but I'm still in a quandry as to when a female is considered egg bound.... Is it length of time? Size of stomach? Any other symptoms?
Thank you for any information that you can provide.

To thine own self be true...

i think its the size of the stomach

If she looks like shes gonna burst and I mean BURST then its possible she might be eggbound, but eggbound is pretty rare. A big belly is common for females, and usually when they get too full they will release eggs but you probably wont see them cus they will most likely eat them right after. Hey good snack! :%) lol. Other signs would probably be consipation, not eating, ect ect. I say probably becaue I really don't know, ive never delt with this kinda thing before. And like i said it doesn't happen that often. But if you are worried about her the best thing to do would be to chuck her in the spawning tank.

ashley

Well, I tried the tea bag thing, following the instructions in another thread.... must have done something wrong, because my egg bound, crowntail female died...
My other female bettas seem to release their eggs - but the little crowntail just got bigger and kept getting bigger and bigger!
I feel badly about this, because she'd had such a hard life... She was one of the crowntail females that I'd gotten off of eBay that arrived in such a horrible condition! Fins and tail were completely torn up! Just little stubs! BUT she was well on her way to recovery before this egg bound business.... With proper diet and a little tlc her fins had made remarkable progress! They weren't completely grown back - but it was getting difficult to distinguish her from some of my other female bettas unless you looked closely.... When she began to fill with eggs I thought it was a sign of becoming healthy - but apparently not..... At the end she truly looked like she was going to explode!
She initially lived in my community tank which has one male betta.... but since he doesn't ever blow bubble nests, I thought perhaps this wasn't working out... So I'd taken her out of the community and put her in with the Crowntail male for awhile hoping spawining would relieve her.... Other than getting close and flaring, nothing happened... In desperation, I finally tried the tea bag thing - and you know the results of that... I'm wondering if I allowed too much tea - though I thought what I had was a light brown....
I am saddened by her death, but I do kind of have to believe that maybe it was for the best - because frankly, I just don't know how she could have kept going in her extremely bloated condition..... She looked absolutely miserable!
Thanks for all of you who tried to help me figure this out.

To thine own self be true...

What is the tea bag thing? Is it actually REAL tea???

Thats too bad about her but at least you took good care of her

ashley

In a link provided by Callatya in the Labyrinth Lounge, the following was suggested as a possible means to have the egg bound female release her eggs: (Or as I call it:"The Tea Bag Thing":
"Sometimes when I get egg bound females I make up some cool water and add a tea bag. Stir until light brown and add that to her water and they release eggs practically right away."

To thine own self be true...

Hm never heard that before, i should write that down just incase.

I remember reading a post once on another forum about eggbound. This one lady had a female who actually did explode!

ashley