What to Do If Guppies Eat Their Babies After Giving Birth? Four Effective Methods to Prevent Mother Fish from Eating Fry

It’s heartbreaking to see guppies, which we’ve raised with great care, eat their own babies after giving birth. Recently, several followers have asked me how to avoid this issue. Today, I’ll share four effective methods to prevent mother fish from eating their fry.

Accurately Determine the Birth Date

Under normal circumstances, guppies take about 28 days from pregnancy to giving birth. Sometimes, due to a larger number of fry, the birth time may be delayed. Additionally, some older fish may give birth within 20 days under suitable temperatures. The birth date for each fish is not fixed, so we can further judge by observing the gestational spot on the mother fish’s belly. When it’s just pregnant, the spot is orange, which will gradually turn black. At this point, it needs to be kept separately.

Provide a Separate Rearing Environment for the Mother Fish

• Prepare a larger nursery tank for the fry.
• Place some food and aquatic plants in the nursery tank so that the fry can hide.

Feeding Before and After Birth

When the mother fish is about to give birth or is in the process of giving birth, we need to prepare food for her. This is because the mother fish will consume a lot of energy during the birth process. If she is not fed at this time, she may swallow the fry to replenish her energy. If we can fully feed the mother fish, we will find that she will not eat the fry anymore. Moreover, if there are pebbles and aquatic plants in the water for the fry to hide in, the mother fish usually will not chase the fry.

Avoid Disturbing the Mother Fish During Birth

• Do not catch the fry before the mother fish has completely given birth.
• This may scare the mother fish, triggering its fear and causing it to frantically swallow the fry.
• After we have placed the pebbles and aquatic plants for the fry to hide in, we can wait patiently for the mother fish to finish giving birth.

After the mother fish has finished giving birth, catch her separately and put her in another tank to rest and recover. After the mother fish has recovered for two or three days, you can put her back into the tank with the male fish.

Just remember these four points, and you can effectively reduce the situation of the mother fish eating the fry. That’s all for today’s content. If you have any questions, you can contact me through my homepage. See you next time, bye!