louis_last
Member
I'm trying to work out why these essentially don't exist in the UK. I have been trying to find one for years without any luck, I've even driven cross country on more than one occasion to buy a 'female' from a shop that's been adamant they have them only ever to find unambiguously sub dominant males. I've even seen them sold specifically sexed as pairs at greater cost where without a shadow of a doubt both specimens were male but one was displaying suppressed colouration. I've just returned from another unsuccessful trip (essential trip, was also buying pet food) to look at a tank of males and it's clear that a big part of the problem is that these are SO rare that very few people even know what the females look like - once you do there's really no mistaking them for a male.
I was working in Hamburg for a few months not long ago and made a point of visiting as many german aquatics shops as I could to see how they differed from the UK and one of the things that surprised me the most was that every shop I visited sold Scarlet Badis, and every one sold them in true sexed male/female pairs, even the german equivalent of major chains like petsmart. Does anyone have any idea why they should be so uniquely hard to source in the UK? And has anyone ever seen one? Maybe someone here has actually managed to get their hands on one somehow?
I know one shop owner who claims to have a few that he's seperated out from large batches of males but I've offered him silly money for one and he wont part with any even though he's not breeding them so I think he might just be winding me up because he knows how long I've been looking.
I have a heavily planted, low flow tank that would be perfect for a pair but I really don't want to keep a lone male and previously I had a male who I bought a 'female' partner for that turned out to be another male and they fought very aggressively and stressed each other out even in a fairy large tank with plenty of visual barriers.
If you've ever even SEEN a female Scaret Badis I want to hear from you.
I was working in Hamburg for a few months not long ago and made a point of visiting as many german aquatics shops as I could to see how they differed from the UK and one of the things that surprised me the most was that every shop I visited sold Scarlet Badis, and every one sold them in true sexed male/female pairs, even the german equivalent of major chains like petsmart. Does anyone have any idea why they should be so uniquely hard to source in the UK? And has anyone ever seen one? Maybe someone here has actually managed to get their hands on one somehow?
I know one shop owner who claims to have a few that he's seperated out from large batches of males but I've offered him silly money for one and he wont part with any even though he's not breeding them so I think he might just be winding me up because he knows how long I've been looking.
I have a heavily planted, low flow tank that would be perfect for a pair but I really don't want to keep a lone male and previously I had a male who I bought a 'female' partner for that turned out to be another male and they fought very aggressively and stressed each other out even in a fairy large tank with plenty of visual barriers.
If you've ever even SEEN a female Scaret Badis I want to hear from you.