How to tell if a ray is pregnant?

[Kwazy]

Hi,
Title says it all. Say you missed the breeding. how to tell early?

Thanks.

 

[Knowdafish]

 

[Kwazy]

Hahaha. Very funny.
Real answer please?

 

[Gshock]

Considering your rays are 6-7", they're most likely nowhere near ready to breed, but to answer your questions, if they really did mate, there should be a wad of sperm floating around your tank until your filter can actually pick it up, even after that, you can check your filter for it. Later on, you'd see your female get bigger and bigger and having a growing appetite. near 60 days if i remember correctly, you can see the pups moving inside the female.

 

[Kwazy]

Yeah, I know they are WAY too small. I'm just exited.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Roque]

I would not worry about breeding them. For now just worry about taking care of them and keeping them alive.

 

[FishDog]

At that size you got at least 2 more years. Usually the male will get aggressive with her and start biting her when trying to mate. Once he does his deed he will back off in most cases. After the mating part there is no real way to tell unless you do a ultrasound. Once she starts gaining in size you will know for sure.

 

[Kwazy]

Thanks.

 

[Zoodiver]

One of the best signs you can see is bite marks on your female after the male breeds her. You'll see her disc chewed up around the back edges like this preg motoro (this pic is an extreme case, but you'll get the idea) :

 

[Kwazy]

Cool.