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I have had my Reidi for a couple of days now. The female is swimming all over the tank. I have a 50 gal tall tank. The male is pregnant I am certain. He will swim to the top some but is not real active and stays on the bottom third of the tank most of the time. He is eating pretty well. I am hand feeding them so I know how he is eating. Is this normal for the male?
Dear Sindy:
Nope, that’s not at all unusual for a stallion to be more sedentary than his mate. It is normal for male seahorses to be somewhat less active than the females. Males tend to be real homebodies that will often choose one particular hitching post as their home base and spend much of there time perched right there (think of your Dad hunkered down in his favorite easy chair in the den). Researchers studying seahorses in the field therefore refer to males as "site-specific" because they can be found at the same tiny patch of reef or seagrass day after day, rarely straying from their chosen spot. Mature males are often naturally more shy and retiring than females, which can be quite brazen at times. I suspect this is due to their parental duties — during the breeding season, pair-bonded males are ordinarily ALWAYS pregnant, and they can’t risk exposing their precious cargo to any more risk than absolutely necessary.) The unfettered females tend to be far more footloose and fancy free, and in the wild they typically roam over a home territory of up to 100 square meters. So I wouldn’t worry if your male only tends to wander around the tank on occasion, whereas your female is more active and explores more.
This sort of reclusive behavior may become more pronounced as his pregnancy advances. Gravid males do behave somewhat differently; as their pregnancy progresses, they are less mobile and often become real stick-in-the-muds, since they cannot risk exposing themselves and their developing brood to potential predators. They tend to hole up and may even go into hiding; they may go off their feed and miss a meal or two or fail to show up at the feeding station now and then.
As long as he’s eating well and not having any problems with positive buoyancy, I would say that all is well and you have nothing to be concerned about, Sindy. Your Hippocampus reidi stallion is behaving normally under the circumstances.
Best of luck with your new H. reidi and their upcoming brood, Sindy!
Happy Trails!
Pete GiwojnaThank you so much for your help. I am just trying to do everything right. It is great having a place to ask the questions.
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