# OB Zebra question



## Adams2156 (Jan 6, 2007)

Are all OB Red Zebra's females?!?!? if not how can you sex them?


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

In the wild OB males are very uncommon. Not so in the aquarium trade.

If they hold, they're female, otherwise, you need to do this: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gender.php

kevin


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

In nature they are rare. In the hobby they bred them so there are many OB males. the males get a blue tint and get lighter overall, have larger eggspots, pointed fins.

Remember. not all OB Zebras are Red OB Zebras. There are many different species.


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## Adams2156 (Jan 6, 2007)

thank you, I am going to go pick one up today I will post a couple pictures (1) to determine if it is an OB RED Zebra and (2) if its male or female... thanks guys greatly appreciated


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## shaneshamrock (Dec 1, 2010)

Not to hijack this thread but I recently bought some ob zebras. I was wondering are they also no-nos with yellow labs?


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## Adams2156 (Jan 6, 2007)

no big deal shane... ill second that question too seeing how i have some yellow labs too...*** kept them together before...never had too much of a problem the red zebras a bit aggressive towards them but never had a major problems...lets see what the experts have to say


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## Timkat4867 (Jan 11, 2008)

Generally, you can have them with Yellow labs, provided they are in adequate numbers, plenty rockwork, and you dont intend to distrubute any fry they might have.


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## Timkat4867 (Jan 11, 2008)

Adams, are you buying an adult OB zebra or buying a juvenile?

Usually, you cannot tell whether its male or female when they are young. when they are adults, usually the males are a pale orange with a slight blue hue around the edges of their fins, while the females are a deeper orange.

The only sure way to find out though is to vent them.


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## aicardi (Sep 15, 2012)

Timkat4867 said:


> Adams, are you buying an adult OB zebra or buying a juvenile?
> The only sure way to find out though is to vent them.


I purchased an OB Zebra just last week. I was looking to find a male.
The owner of the shop did in fact let me vent on the spot. I looked at three of them that were around 1.5". My close vision is not so good but on the first two I could see the vent.
The third I could not and felt there was a good chance of it being male. Once I got home I photographed it with a macro lens for a better view. Image below.
That said, I don't know if there is a point when they are too small to get an accurate venting even with closeup photography. However I do feel the OB Zebra below is a male.










Below is a Socolofi right at 2" that is an obvious female. This one was traded for a male.


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