If I’m being completely honest, there’s not much that goes into breeding Neocaradinia shrimp. Not that I’m complaining! Basically, ensure that your shrimp are comfortable and unstressed. That means proper water parameters, appropriate places to hide, enough food, etc. After that, simply let nature take it’s course!
From birth, a shrimp will need roughly 3-5 months before it reaches breeding age. As long as the conditions above are met, and there are compatible mates in the tank, you should have babies within a month or so. An indication of a female shrimp that has reached breeding maturity is the development of whats called a “saddle.” The saddle of a mature female shrimp can be found right behind their head, and it’s actually undeveloped eggs located in their ovary, although it just looks like a small discoloration at this stage. I tried to take a good picture of this, but I wasn’t able to get a good angle. I’ve attached a YouTube video below which shows it pretty clearly at around 0:18.
I think that the gestation of these shrimp is particularly interesting because they have live births, meaning the mother will carry her eggs until they become fully capable adolescents. Another thing I find fascinating is that you can actually clearly see these eggs underneath the mother as she carries them.
Check out this link for more information about the breeding of these shrimp!
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