My inexperience costs 2 lives
 

Today is a very sad day for me. Wake up and found 2 dead pups. Due to my inexperience, it costs 2 lives!

Yesterday I had created for my female sp ray and a xb (which is being 'targeted' by the 2 groups of aro 😓) a temporary partition in my fgt. I thought at least the female ray if is really pregnant (I am not sure as the hump is not really big), can be safe from the male ray harassment. Who knows this morning I found the 2 pups, one inside the partition while one badly injured, outside the partition. This is a very sad moment for me...

I hope to learn from my mistake. Can any bro advise:

1. If is the partition of the female ray cos her to be stress and gave birth prematurely?
2. Is it the aro attacked on the pups?
3. Once the pups are born, what should we do?
4. If the pup is born at night, what is the survival rate if you only discover it in the morning?
5. Will the mother ray eat its own baby?
6. Any other advises that can help me?

I am sorry for these 2 lovely pups.... RIP

http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/...s2pjvncv5.jpeg

http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/...sstnbn3ux.jpeg

http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/...smldexmxw.jpeg

Sorry for your losses.

1. If is the partition of the female ray cos her to be stress and gave birth prematurely?
The pups dun look premature but I agree that it could be the stress that caused the female to give birth.

2. Is it the aro attacked on the pups?
Usually the attacked comes from other rays. I personally have not encounter aros attacking pups.

3. Once the pups are born, what should we do?
Separate the pups using DIY boxes. Water must be from the same pond.

4. If the pup is born at night, what is the survival rate if you only discover it in the morning?
If not attacked survival rate should be close to 100%

5. Will the mother ray eat its own baby?
Nope at least not from my own experience.

Anyway my condolences for your lost.

Thks bro Kirin and Maxon88.

Now the female looks very weak and restless... I am not sure if this is normal, but I suppose so... I intend to keep her partition for another month, do u think that is a good idea? She seems to be very sad that her babies died... Or dhe is just tired... Haiz... :(

Omg sad to see that . Rip

Good to separate the male from the female after mating to prevent the aggressive male from attacking the pups.

hi bro , firstly , condolences.. i guess u did everything correct just that 1 of the pups got stuck in the divider and the other 1 went over.

1)it is unlikely that the partition stressed the female unless it is very small.. then too i doubt it would stress her until to give birth.. maybe could u share a pic of the partition ?

2) not very sure which fish attacked the pups , could be any of your other fishes. previously i had some aros which like to eat my pups fresh fresh when just come out... and some aros which dont touch the pups as well so i guess just have to see the temperament of the aro.

3) normally once the pups are born , best would be to place in a floating tub / basket in the same water it was born in till its more stable.

4) most of my rays either give birth at night or very early in the morning and i only discover them when i wake up. mostly can find them hiding behind the pot in my tank... i've seen a few breeders they normally make a large hiding place using some form of mesh or egg crate or something and raise it just high enough from the tank base for the pups , so when the pups are born they can go hide under without the other fishes being able to go in and disturb

5) so far , have never experienced the mother attacking the pups

6) i guess just let your female rest until she is healthy and strong again , and in future maybe when u divide , u can divide a whole section for her like say if your fgt is 12 x 4 , u can divide 2.5ft or 3ft from the 12ft so she can get an area of 4ft x 3ft to rest.. i guess this way its a good amount of space and she can swim around abit.. normally my rays when pregnant they like to do chin up near due date like ''pushing''

i am just assuming this as to your previous post on how u had divided your fish in the fgt.... im not sure how u have done it now.

its either a possibility that she is stressed or only after you had separated the female that she had felt it is safe to give birth. with all your other monsters out there i would say she felt safer in the divider.. i guess a way to check if the pups are premature is to see if the yolk sac is very big.. if big then i would say premature.. if small or none then i guess its she gave birth because she felt it was safe to.

also would be good to keep some baskets/tubs to float for your future pups.

All the best.

Thanks bro thkslim and bro Zozo.

Wow... bro Aro77, u always so helpful, really appreciate all your advise :) i never thot of the possibility that she gave birth because she felt safe... Something new to me. Thks.

My female ray is not big actually... I never expect her to be pregnant... She is around 12 inches I think, didnt measure her... Anyway she starts eating a little today and hopefully she will recover soon... Cheers

glad to hear she's eating again :)

Sad but do move on.