I've had a female guppy that I've thought was going to give birth for the past 2 weeks. I've had her secluded in a hatchery trap twice, the first time for 3 days with no babies so I let her out, last Friday I caught her again and put her back in the hatchery and again let her out Sunday night still not having babies.

I cut the light on this morning to feed them when I got up and saw something tiny dart into a plant. Got to looking with a flashlight and in rock crevices, under plants and every little hiding place were itty-bitty tiny fishes.

I'm still counting 8-10 that I can find in hidden places but figure they won't last with the other fish in the tank. I hate missing them being born in the hatchery, this is the first time experience having babies in my tanks..... Have another guppy that's got a pretty dark gravid spot, may just catch her and put her in the hatchery until it happens, but also hate leaving one cooped up more than 2-3 days if they don't have them right away, will this hurt/stress them too bad to stay in seclusion for 4-5-6 days ?

I don't see an issue with keeping the female in there for 4-6 days. Just make sure to feed her :-) Congrats on your first batch of fry btw. You know you could try catching them and putting them in the cage too instead of waiting for the next batch.

Yeah, I tried catching a couple and wound up uprooting plants and causing mayhem in the tank while trying to catch a tiny little darting object, figured I'd wind up squashing them in the long run, so with 5 other females in the tank right now, I figure it won't be long before I get opportunities again, many times over..... LOL

Just upset me that I missed the very first time with babies.