I tried to get a female. Bit of a short and wider body than my male. I have a 10 gallon with a clear divider between them. This one doesn’t seem aggressive at all and likes to hide while my male flairs and shows off. I’ve had it for about 5 days. The male built a bubble nest last night which is a rare occasion. He’s only built a few before in the past 6-8 months I’ve had him. and he’s always been alone in his tank.
I would say that looks like a male. It could be that he just dosent like the other male and is still getting used to his surroundings and that us why he is hiding, or it could be that his personality is just more laid back.
How are you guys able to tell? I find it hard to tell by the body size and they are never in the right position to check for the white spot by their stomach
Female bettas have more slender ventral fins and shorter tail fins. The only morph that tail length doesn't apply to is plakat bettas, where both male and females have short tails
Males have bigger ventral fins and have an extra piece of skin by their gills that gives them that big "flare face" (like a beard) females flare, but not as big because they don't have that "beard."
If he's sharing water with the other male, they're aware of eachother's presence, because they'll both release hormones and other chemical/scent markers in their waste. a 40-50% water change will help level the playing field. He's pretty cool though! I love those spots on his dorsal fin. The shape of his body is a little odd though, keep an eye on his ability to swim, in case he has spinal deformities. Some spinal stuff clears with swimming space, and good water, others are permanent. If the latter is true (provided a deformity exists at all), just keep him away from strong currents. Females are best identified by an egg spot I'll try to get a picture of one of my girls, some are more pronounced than others.
Not to be rude, but not sure how you were guessing this betta's gender. You will very rarely find females with the extensive fin lengths as males. There's probably a thread or something floating around on how to sex bettas but the basics are this: Males will have longer fins than their female counterparts. Keep in mind that there are short finned males (plakats) out there but they are easily identified by their long pelvic fins and "beard". You can see your boy's beard pretty well in the pics, it is the dark fleshy bit around his gills. Females will always be heavier in the front and will have a white egg spot between their pelvic fins. Some males have false egg spots but not too many. Male plakat (double tailed): Note the long pelvic fins. Females are almost always shorter and much thinner. Most bettas being sold are males, usually of the long finned varieties. Yours is a male double tail, likely halfmoon or delta (hard to tell with double tails).
