Phelsuma borbonica (agalegae) mater mating (Pictures and video)

mkschaefer · #1 01-27-2012, 03:31 PM

Hello,

I was introducing a male klemmeri to a new female and heard scuffling/ chattering in the borbonica enclosure. They are really quite vocal. I was startled to see the male aggressively biting the female and thrashing her around. I have seen him display at and chase females, but never seen him attack them like this. I used to keep them as a 1.2 but recently removed the other female as he was constantly pursuing her. Though both females produced offspring last year, the male clearly and increasingly favors one of the females.
As soon as I broke them up, they ran to another part of the enclosure and immediately began mating. The male was peaceful with her the rest of the day (at least what I observed). I am carefully watching them, but believe the pair is doing better than a trio. This is the only species I have tried keeping in a trio.
The enclosure is densely planted with Sansevieria and the bamboo offers many sites where the female can retreat to. These pictures and video were obviously taken with the camera on my phone. I am sorry for the poor image quality, but I still find the pictures interesting enough to share.

Video:

Phelsuma borbonica (agalegae) mater mating - YouTube

KingOfTheNorth · #2 01-27-2012, 05:55 PM

Nice looking pair you have there and great pics and video!

daggekko · #3 01-27-2012, 10:23 PM

Nice pair!

Question for you- When you had yours as a trio, did your females still look nice and bright like that? I have my borbs in a trio and my male colors up almost all the time(99%) but my females rarely show their color(less than 5%) and when they do color up more they still look rather dull and ugly. I was thinking about taking both females out for a while to see what that might do. I have them all in a 40 gallon breeder right now with lots of plants and bamboo. And UV lighting.

daggekko · #4 01-28-2012, 10:04 AM

Funny that this post is going on. I was sitting on the computer and heard some squabbling among my borbonicas. Both females were colored up a lot! Couldn't get a photo of the brighter of two, but here is the one

I don't know for sure but I believe I have the same situation you had going on. It seems the male likes one of the females better. I will be seperating at least the one girl here soon.

mkschaefer · #5 01-28-2012, 10:29 AM

I did notice that the "preferred" female was colored up more often and was frequently perched near the top of the enclosure. The other female was often on the front glass, down low in the bases of the plants, or on the other side of the enclosure from wherever the male or other female would be. I would occasionally see the male deliberately move about the high perches, almost patrolling them and displaying (inflating his throat, twitching his tail, sometimes vocalizing, and chasing). The odd female out was chased by both and had visible locations on her tail/ rear dorsal surface of her body where she had been nipped (missing scales). She is the easiest one to catch as she often sits near the front of the enclosure and I can usually coax her up onto the glass. They are pretty fast. The male is exceptionally fast (maybe as fast as cepediana) and noticeably larger than the females. The female presently in with the male is much more brightly colored and is more robust. The other female is now in a separate enclosure until I find another male.

Any leads anyone? Time for a borbonica co-op! I actually have found less male borbonica than I have male cepediana.

Sgvreptiles · #6 01-28-2012, 11:41 AM

Glad to see your guys pairs breeding. Of the 4 hatchlings I have right now Im hoping one is male. Incubated at a higher temp and showing much more size and color even though its younger then one of the other ones. So we shall see. I have produced 8 babys this year and have sold 4 off to a few local breeders. One of the babys had died(incubated female) not to sure why. But I should start finding out sexes from them in the next few months. I still have 4 more eggs too. Would anyone want to do blood trades? Are both of you (matt and adam) animals agalage mater? Both of your guys animals look very similar, and mine look different. Wouldnt really want to cross them...

mkschaefer · #7 01-28-2012, 11:55 AM

I really wouldn't want to cross them either. I wouldn't mind starting a new project with another borbonica subspecies. I am thinking about getting in touch with everyone I know working with this group and starting to figure out who has what and begin working together. I am willing to trade/ purchase animals.

daggekko · #8 01-28-2012, 01:07 PM

I have only found bad eggs so far. I have my Phelsuma in a winterish setting(shorter days/cooler) right now too. My females are both looking REALLY plump though, so I might get eggs here soon.

As far as which ones I have your guess is probably better than mine. I bought them as P b. borbonica, but they do have the blue eye rings, so they could be P b mater.

Or they could be hybrids too. Like I said, your guess is probably better than mine!!

I am up for possible blood line trades once I get some babies cooking.

I will try to get a collection of really good pictures of mine as I can and get another thread going.

Another odd question for Phelsuma people-How long(or old) do your Phelsuma get before you see a decline in breeding activity(or good eggs being laid)?