I think I accidentally a male...?

I think I accidentally got a male...?

I was at Petco, ready to get my sorority females. I picked out my three and went on my merry way. The containers were labeled veiltail females. I took my time and acclimated them while slowly introducing them to each other and all was going well. All of a sudden, Princess (the one this story's about) decides to attack the other two and goes all crazy. Then I notice that she/he doesn't look the same as the other two veiltailed females and I got suspicious of its gender. I obviously took it out and separated it from the other two females (who are getting along famously). So, can you guys help a girl out and figure out if Princess is really a cross-dressing male?

 

somebody else might be better at this than i, but 2 thoughts
1) if it's a male, the only way I know for sure how to gender a betta is to look for the gravid spot (a little white spot on the belly). if there's a gravid spot, she's a she.
2) I tried the sorority thing once, and while some of them were fine, one of them was just psychotic. she just was crazy. wouldn't tolerate anything else alive in her tank. vicious little girl even bit during feeding. she was that way until she died 2 years later in an isolation tank. maybe princess is just a really grumpy fish...

 

I'm pretty sure it is a female. She has really short ventral fins, and short fins in general. She has a long slender body. I guess she could be a young male, but I can also see the white spot on her behind the ventral fins on the picture where she is sort of facing away from the camera.

Some people have success with the sorority thing and other don't. Some females are just as mean and violent as males. I've mentioned this before on this forum, but I'm confident my late girl would have done the same thing. I honestly think she would have put up a good fight against a male, she was MEAN to other aquarium dwellers. Loved me though

 

That's a female, I can see the little white egg tube.
And she's not a veil tail, she's a Double Tail
Very cute!

 

What size tank is this?

I would advise no smaller than a 20 gallon and no fewer than 8 females for a sorority. They can be highly aggressive, as you've witnessed. I also only advise experienced fishkeepers to attempt a sorority.

 

It's actually a ten gallon. I've kept three females at a time before with great success. I have just never gotten one so mean before. Well, thank you for all your help! Now to figure out what to do with her... :/

 

I would like to correct a few things some of the other members have put out here

Every singe one of my "female" bettas, with ovipositors and stubby fins, have turned out to be young male Plakats. So, pretty much, those two traits mean nothing.

IMO, the only sure fire way to tell gender is to get the fish to flare.

The link below will help you to sex you betta, as it has lots of pictures, comparing both male and female.

 

If you can keep (it) in it's own tank for a few weeks it may grow out the fins more and you'll be able to see if it's a male. The ovipositor on a female is a single white short tube sticking out of the belly where the males parts look like a smoother double hump. From what little I can see in the pictures the white spot doesn't stick out very far but from the angle of the pictures I wouldn't swear to it being a male.

 

maybe snap another pic during feeding, when princess's mouth is at the surface and belly is parallel to the glass? might provide a more accurate sexing.

@Akari, how does them flaring help? If the egg tube doesn't mean anything, then I really don't have any way to tell lol; is there something else that becomes visible while they flare?

 

The "beard" lol
When they flare, both males and females have sides stick out, but only the males have the bottom part that comes out, the gill membrane. I tried to find pics to show the difference, but I can only find males.

 

Princess is definitely female! I made her flare and she has absolutely no sign of the beard. I also put her back in the tank after keeping her separated for a day and I guess she decided to play nice from now on. The three of them swim in a little pack now and are always together. It's cute and I'm happy

 

hmmmmm. I think a few of my "females" have had beards... well. you learn somethin every day

 

Glad to hear It may change later on, so alway be watching them.

Not sure if this has been addressed or not, but she is a Double Tail

 

hmmmmm. I think a few of my "females" have had beards... well. you learn somethin every day

I have actually read this, too, that females can flare, or rather some females can sometimes flare and that it is not an accurate way if sexing. I don't believe the flaring is as grand as it is with the boys, but some females do have a slight beard.

So glad to read Princess is now being nice! Maybe she was just all unsettled.

 

There can be little-tiny beards. The female flaring in the link I posted had a tiny bit of beard poking out from the bottom of her gills, but nothing like the males.

 

looks a lot like a female, a double tail. If not then the only thing I can think of is a double tail plakat. If it has a white dot on it stomach its alomost definetly a female. She may just be agressive.