Raypond pregnancy check

[Mark Huveneers]

Having lots of ponds with no glass to view the rays from the side I have encounterd a big problem. It is almost impossible to see if the rays are pregnant.
There is a simple solution to this problem: put a mirror in the pond on a 45 degree angle and now you can see the rays from the side and check for pregnancy by looking at their fat humps....

Here is the result (sorry about the upside down view, have no video editing software running at the moment)

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[eriken]

Wow! That was a funky solution! And a good idea for those keeping rays in a pond where side view is not possible.

 

[conchabullosa]

Great solution!
I had resorted to lowering an under water camera (Olympus Mu Tough) and taking videos of the rays to confirm pregnancy! Your solution is simpler ( and cheaper, last camera had leak and sigh!)
BTW, do u create any "traps" or pipes to allow the pups to hide from the adults when they are born? Somedays I have had high casualties from the adult rays being curious abt the pups!

 

[Mark Huveneers]

I am thinking of putting the pregnant females in separate ponds were they can have their pups in peace. I'm not that far yet though. This way they also have a some time to recover before they get molested again by the males.

 

[RedTailKinG]

great idea and it looks freakky to see them swimming ontop lol

 

[Mark Huveneers]

After checking the rays for pregnancy I am quite sure 2 of them are pregnant and I have my doubts about 3 more.

So I built a delivery separation today from this stuff:
http://koizwijndrecht.nl/promenade/product_images/d/imagemagic__77487.jpg

When a ray is 2 1/2 - 3 months pregnant you can separate them in without removing them from the pond to minimize stress. This should secure the pups from getting nipped, untill you can move them.

I´ll try and make a little video tomorrow.

 

[royalray]

very good idea, thanks for sharing. i can apply to my pond also. ;-)

 

[Kevaldo]

very cool Mark, you need to get hold of an underwater camera

 

[Cakilla]

Great idea! and its really trippy watching teh rays upside down... very kool though