Martinismommy

What age a male betta starts to build his bubble nest? I found out.....My blue boy is very seriously building his 1st bubble nest...He will be 3 months old tomorrow....It is the cutest thing to watch......Hard to believe I am approaching the 2nd generation of Betta breeding......

Here are the fruits of his labor......

Attached Images

	Bubble nest 12 31 blue.jpg (414.6 KB, 33 views)
	Bubbles 12 31.jpg (448.5 KB, 26 views)
	bubbles 12 31 2.jpg (424.9 KB, 24 views)

capekate

Hi Karen
good to know! Now I am wondering, if you can tell by the size of your Betta's and knowing exactly how old they are can you give us a guess at about what age the Betta's are when they are sold at the LFS? Do they look to be the same size as your Betta's who are 3 months old? Or do you think the Betta's at the LFS are sold at an older age and are bigger? It would give folks an idea of just how old their Betta's really are.

Martinismommy

That question is a great one! Out of all the males I have bought at my LFS only 3 of them would have been under 6 months.....Those 3 are Dunn, Kix and Zero.....All the others have been full grown and I'm guessing by their size that they were probably at least 9 months old...

These 3 month old babies have the body size of an adult it is just the finnage that isn't developed yet....My breeding lines tend to be on the large size though compared to my Pet boys...

Lucy

That's really sweet. Your little boy is becoming a little man. lol

Kate, there was link a while back showing how to tell how old one is by their finnage and size with pics.
I've looked but can't find it.

pamelakt

Do they only build a bubble nest if there is a lady present? Cos Hamish hasn't done anything like that....

capekate

Thanks Karen.. and lucy!
Its just that I was always wondering just how old our little ones are when we buy them. I say that Ive had Phoenix ( for example) two years in March and I cannot really say that he is almost two years old and is of course older, now I can kind of gage just how old he is by the size he was when I got him. He was probably around 4 months old or so with full finage. With your breeding your little ones, you are now able to tell by the approximate size how old a Betta is.
Thats pretty good!
Best of luck with that little beauty! He is quite handsome!

pamd

What a big, beautiful nest! It's very interesting he did that at such a young age.

Pamela, they don't have to be in the presence of a female to build a nest. Some males build lots of nests and others never do. When they do, it's considered by many people to be a sign of happiness. But never building a nest is not a sign of unhappiness.

Alessa

Nop, they dont need one. They make them when they are happy or comfortable with their environment too, not only when a lady is present.

Many bettas take a while to start making them

isis

LOL! Lucy you have a way with words