Hi guys, I think part of the confusion might be that Canjunspice (correct me if I'm wrong) is talking about Red Cherries as opposed to Crystal Reds (the latter, I know nothing about). The female Red Cherries (RCS and NOT CRS) are distinct in that you can see the yellow saddle, though it might be a bit difficult to note if the carapace is well-colored. Try looking at it in different lighting. Also, the carapace on the female on each side of their pleopods hang down lower.
Here's a young, still barely-colored RCS with a bright yellow saddle; also note the rounded carapace covering the pleopods.
The males are slimmer and often have less color intensity than the females, though each shrimp varies.
> "there are the males with alot of red without the orange ovary. I'll just separate the almost clear ones... btw how do i know when the eggs are fertilized? i never had a male in there and i was hoping the babies will do the job."
Cajunspice, as far as I know, after a molt, the eggs descend down to their pleopods during which time they are fertilized (not sure of the exact moment, could be during the descent?). Also note that there *could be eggs, even if unfertilized, in that case, they will be dropped within a week. if you have just babies in there, not all develop the saddle early. In fact after its molt, I just noticed the yellow saddle on one of mine, which I had originally presumed to be a male. As far as the babies fertilizing your female, not sure when they become sexually mature - I've heard anything from about 1 - 3 month, with about 3 months being correct? Can someone please confirm this one way or another?
GunmetalBlue
