# Is this a saddle?



## Splak (May 1, 2013)

So, I noticed last night I think one of my few carbon rili shrimp is saddled! I have cherrys and know 3 of them are saddled, much easier to see on them, also they are fully grown..

This carbon rili is only maybe 0.75" MAX, so I wasn't sure if they can saddle this early.

Tank is 20G Long, 82F, 9-10GH, 5KH, 7.6PH, 10nitrates, 0 ammonia and nitrites. Will they breed in these conditions?

I only have 5 of them in this tank too, so is it too big or just 5 for breeding?

Sorry for the bad pics, its so hard to get nice pics with my phone camera, hopefully you can make out if its a saddle or not  If not, I can try and get some better ones.

First pic, top shrimp is the one in question.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I think it is a saddle, though I don't have carbon rillis, so I'm not 100% sure, but it's in the right spot for one.


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Sorry to threadcrapp but could you explain what a saddled shrimp is for those of us who are unenlightened?


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

mistersprinkles said:


> Sorry to threadcrapp but could you explain what a saddled shrimp is for those of us who are unenlightened?


Not to sure how to explain it, if you think of a someone who rides a horse, they use a saddle.

On shrimp, the ovaries are located where a saddle would be on a horse, this is why its called a "saddle".

If a shrimp is saddled, that means it can breed and be berried(fertile eggs) soon, under the right conditions of course.

This is just my definition of a saddle, if anyone wants to correct me feel free as I'm not 100% sure I am correct 

EDIT:

Fishfur, thanks for the input, I really hope it is!


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Can you post a picture of a saddled shrimp vs a non saddled shrimp so I can see what you're talking about?


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

Picture is off google, a non saddled shrimp is without the saddle ahah.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

In fact, the 'saddle' is the shrimp's ovary with the undeveloped eggs showing. It is much easier to see on lighter coloured shrimps. Some of the darker colours, like chocolate, or black, make it a lot harder to see if a shrimp is saddled, or berried for that matter.

There are a few other differences but this is the definitive way to be sure a shrimp is female. And yes, once the saddle shows, it means the shrimp is sexually mature. It does not mean she'll berry right away. Females come into breeding condition only after a moult. They send out their pheromones after the moult. Any and all males will swarm her trying to make sure they are the dads, so you'll see a lot of unusual activity when a female has sent out pheromones. Once she's bred, it's give or take four weeks 'til the babies drop, though some first time moms don't always succeed. They may drop early or have very few live babies. Usually the next brood will be ok.

Females are usually larger than males when full grown. They have a more rounded underbelly shape, even without eggs, as their shell is a bit longer down the sides to provide cover for future eggs. Males may often have less colour or less quality of colour, though that is quite variable. But when shrimp are very young it's impossible to sex them.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Technically, it's definitely a saddle. I mean, what else could it be, right?

However, if you're asking this question because you want to know if your shrimps will breed soon, the answer is: probably not.

First, shrimps that show a saddle won't necessarily be berried for a while yet. Second, shrimps that get berried for the first time has a high likelihood of dropping their eggs.

I remember the impatience when I first started keeping cherry shrimps. In fact, the first 10 cherries I got just would not breed for me. Of course, now that I think about it, I didn't wait that long.

It takes about a month for a mature female neocaridina to produce one generation, counting from the time it last hatched shrimplets. You will probably see offspring only on the second cycle for newly grown shrimps. So have some patience and give it some time.

However, one thing to note: since you only have a few shrimps, there is a good possibility that you only have females. If you end up seeing saddles on all of them, then you know.

This is one reason why if you want to start a healthy colony, you want to start with at least 20 shrimps.


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## Shrimp Daddy (Mar 30, 2013)

It could be mold.


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

solarz said:


> Technically, it's definitely a saddle. I mean, what else could it be, right?
> 
> However, if you're asking this question because you want to know if your shrimps will breed soon, the answer is: probably not.
> 
> ...


Thanks! Hopefully I can make 5 work out


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