# Sexing Cherry shrimp? Male/Female..



## freeflyer (Feb 3, 2005)

I dont think the stripe has anything to do with it. One way to tell females is the yellowish patch/"sadle" they get, those are the eggs developing before they get droped to there tail where their swimerettes hold them. Its possible you dont have any males and once the eggs get droped they dont get fertilized so they go bad and the females dont carry them anyfurther.
A couple of the cherrys I got from Hoffers had eggs and Im just waiting now for a batch to hatch. IF you know someone at the distributer can you order a batch wholesale? Let me know Im in waukesha and wouldnt mind splitting a few at a good price.


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## Azimuth (Feb 11, 2005)

I work at the company that Hoffers, Aquatics Unlimited, PetsSmart, Pet Wharehouse and lots of other places ship live critters through. I'm not in the same area as the shipping, but in the department right next door. Next time I see a shipment I'll get the name and address of the distributor. I'm not sure if they'll sell to the general public, but it's worth a try.

As for the Cherries....I have noticed a pale white/yellow band going around the backs of the some of the shrimp. The band is right between the head and the abdomen. Is this is the band that your talking about? If it is, whenever I saw that band, I always thought they were sick :icon_redf and I started massive water changes. A few days later the bands were gone, so I figured I cured them....I feel like an idiot. :tongue:


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## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

I have only seen the stripe on females as well. Here is the problem you are probably having. The shrimp you are buying are almost definatly from an importer and importers almost allways only sell females. The males are less colorfull and smaller so they dont sell as well, that is why importers only deal in females. 

If you want to get a good mix of males and females you should order from a breeder in the states! Easier and sometimes even cheeper!


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## Azimuth (Feb 11, 2005)

I bought mine at my LFS..the LFS bought theirs from a distributor in Chicago...the distributor probably did import them from overseas, because Cherries are VERY rare in this area, and rather expensive.


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