Yep, you read that right. My male seahorse is pregnant. Seahorses, in case you don't know are the only animal in which the male gets pregnant and gives birth.
I have several species of seahorses as pets. These two seahorses were aquafarmed, in Hawaii. They have never been in the actual ocean, they were born and raised in a tank. I've had Jezebel (the female) since February and Kade (the male) since April. My Hippocampus erectus male, Kade is pregnant for the first time.
My best guess is that he'll give birth in about 10 days or so. I saw my seahorses 'courting' on Friday and I think that he's carrying eggs now. It could be that he's got his pouch puffed up just to show Jezebel what a good father he would make but I think he's got a brood growing in there.
Seahorses give birth to live babies, also know as fry. Once the fry are born, they are on their own, Mom and Dad's job is done but mine just starts. In the wild, scientists figure that only about 1% of seahorse fry survive. It is not an easy job to try and raise them and I know many people that are lucky if they can get 1% to survive. Of course there are breeders which have the skill to make sure that they have a higher success rate.
Wish me luck. I'll keep this thread updated on our progress.
In the photo, Kade is the one you can easily see. Jezebel is the slightly darker one that has her head in their feeding dish.
I have several species of seahorses as pets. These two seahorses were aquafarmed, in Hawaii. They have never been in the actual ocean, they were born and raised in a tank. I've had Jezebel (the female) since February and Kade (the male) since April. My Hippocampus erectus male, Kade is pregnant for the first time.
My best guess is that he'll give birth in about 10 days or so. I saw my seahorses 'courting' on Friday and I think that he's carrying eggs now. It could be that he's got his pouch puffed up just to show Jezebel what a good father he would make but I think he's got a brood growing in there.
Seahorses give birth to live babies, also know as fry. Once the fry are born, they are on their own, Mom and Dad's job is done but mine just starts. In the wild, scientists figure that only about 1% of seahorse fry survive. It is not an easy job to try and raise them and I know many people that are lucky if they can get 1% to survive. Of course there are breeders which have the skill to make sure that they have a higher success rate.
Wish me luck. I'll keep this thread updated on our progress.
In the photo, Kade is the one you can easily see. Jezebel is the slightly darker one that has her head in their feeding dish.
