Shrimp won't give birth?

Optimus

Optimus

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Aug 23, 2010
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I've had a bee shrimp in a 35L for over two weeks and she still has eggs in her. The eggs are no longer easy to distinguish as they've gone from brown to a more pale ish color.

I check on her every night and each morning before work and it's been about 3 weeks.

My water parameters are double zero with nitrate being less than 5ppm

Is it possible that she's reabsorbing the eggs into her body? I'm confused.
 
I have not kept Bee shrimp, but I think they are like RCS and if so then they would be berried for 21 to 30 some days before giving birth to the eggs, so I would not worry that she isn't giving birth yet.
 
Wow really?

Everything I've read so far suggest 18 days max. Thanks! lol I'll stop worrying now.
 
Sounds like you've gotten sage advice. Just be patient and I bet you get babies. I don't have experience with your specific shrimp, but the color change is a promising sign. I know with other kinds of shrimp, the eggs change color during their development, with one final change near the end.

Also, the eggs are carried externally on the female's swimmerettes (sp?) so they don't get reabsorbed or anything. If there problems with the eggs (fungus or they aren't viable) then generally the female will just discard them or perhaps even eat them.
 
Having her let go is the easy part , keeping the young alive well thats another thing .
I have been told, water a tad warmer will shorten the holding time .
It will take a week before you will be able to see them with naked eye , after that it goes by fast .
Took me a while to be able to keep fry alive .

RO and musora products did the trick .
Mine shed 3 days ago and all females are holding again
Your shrimp are beautiful , very good luck !
 
Warmer water will decrease the time it takes to hatch. It will also decrease the life span of all shrimp living in the tank. This may not be a real problem, if you've got a young breeding colony. Personally, going higher than 80 degrees, for long periods, isn't advisable. For most of my shrimp species, I stick with 74 to 77F.

You mentioned that the eggs changed color. This is normal. Most of my shrimp (dwarf, or Macro) have eggs that start as a solid opaque color (yellow, orange, brown, white, and green). There are many different colors. As the eggs mature, they become more translucent, the eggs of some of my Macrobrachium shrimp will show tiny black dots, days before hatching. The dots are the eyes of the developing shrimp in the egg. I found this out from a biology Professor friend who had access to a good microscope, a steady hand, and a plastic toothpick.
 
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