could my fishie be a female?

[alicemagooey]

well,i put a mirror near the fishie i am 'fishie sitting' ,and he/she doesn't seem to flare or give any kind of display..he just kinda goes over and looks at the funny looking thing in the mirror and stays over there near it.
is this normal?
such a sweet fish it is.
at least by
my way of thinking of things...
alice

[twoluvcats]

some males just don't flare much. I had a male that would never flare at a mirror. I wqould bug him with it and after a few minutes he would puff out his gill covers a teeny bit like "THERE, you happy" lol

Not flaring can be a sign of illness if your guy is a "regular flare-er"...sounds like your guy may be laid back like my old Mimi (my 2 yr daughter named the poor guy LOL)

[alicemagooey]

thanks twoluvcats.i just wrote a long post (a long,long post) on the progress of my fishie sitting..but i lost it by pressing the back button.doggone.

i think 'fishie' is still a mite
stressed..

i am learning as i go..
how much i just want him to be a happy fishie.

i changed his water today.
which is certainly stressful.

i am not going to make too many changes to his life.i have decided.
some of the people here said that i should remove the plant,etc..but i just do not think that for this well established 'fishie',it would be good.The plant that is there is his 'hidie'..and i believe he is an older 'fishie'..and i think too many changes would not make him a happy fishie..good as the changes may seem..
i have had a wonderful time learning,however..i went to Walmart in the snow yesterday and got some dried bloodworms..which i will experiment with a tiny tiny bit in a coupla days.
i also got a thermometer which sticks on..which is pretty useless,but it is all they had.

i also got some silk plants...and i have been playing with some gallon containers i have myself..
there were some adorable little Bettas in walmart who looked like they would like anew home..i have two jars...
hmmmm..

i want to get the heating thing down pat,however..and get a better feel for how to keep them less stressed..

since 'fishie' does't flare much,with a mirror,maybe he would not mind another bowl with a new little Betta brought near every so often..just for a change..

well,i guess i am 'hooked'.
i was reading some other posts in this forum..the nice peta,pro-animal lady who wants Walmart not to carry fish...well,where would we go on our 'rescue missions' if she did that?
hugs
alice

[Lindsay]

Good point! I, myself, have rescued two bettas from walmart. *makes face* One of which died last night! I had her for about 6 monthes.

I'm not a pro with bettas, so I'm not going to comment about the flaring or lack of it. I'll leave that to those that know more about it than I do!

The females that I've seen don't have the finage that males do. They have shorter fins and colors that are not as bold. I love them all though! Have a happy new year!

Hugs,
Lindsay