[Paul112]

:EDIT: - "me" should be "my" in the title!

Hey, I need some advice on this.

I've had my big female Tokay for over a year now. Last November I bought a young male with the hope of captive breeding. The male never thrived and died about 2 months ago.

Problem is, I've heard Tokays pair for life. I don't know if they ever "paired" and mated, but I did find eggs shortly before he died. The eggs have since proven to be infertile, but I am unsure whether she laid them after mating, or just laid them without.

The eggs are still in the tank, and she hasn't resorted to eating them yet. I've candled them multiple times, and they're light yellow with no hint of pink or red. I was just planning on leaving them in there until she gives up on them, since I thought disrupting her nest might stress her out.

My problem is, the local pet store has an adult Tokay in. I haven't checked whether it's male yet, but I am very temped. They rarely appear for sale around here.

If it is a male, is it possible to introduce my female to a new mate? She wasn't with the old male for long, a few months at most, and since she laid infertile eggs, can I assume they didn't mate?

If I can deduce that they didn't pair up, and that this Tokay is infact a male, how would I go about introducing the new male?

My plan is to temporarily keep them in separate setups (possibly next to each other so that they can familiarise themselves), move the female's existing tank to another part of the room, and completely rescape it. This should hopefully prevent her getting territorial when reintroduced. At that point, I'd put them both in the newly scaped tank at the same time, and let them become accustomed.

Could this work?

Paul

[holocaustto]

A was waitin' for someone with more experience to answer, but I guess an opinion is better than nothing at all.
I think that the fact that "they pair for life" just means, that they will stay as a couple as long as they are together. I don't think it means they can't ever have a new couple...
Nevertheless, your plan makes a lot of sence, at least to me. I used to do the same thing with territorial fish and worked pretty good.
So, go to the petstore, make sure it's a male, buy him and go on with your plan xD! That's what I would do...

Well, let me know how it goes, I wish you luck!



(sorry for the bad English :B, I hope you get it right)

[Paul112]

Thanks for the reply. My logical side said that she also was an adult when I bought her, so unless she abstained until she was captured by some kids, she probably had a mate in the wild before living with my late male.

Anyway, cheers for the encouragement. I'm planning something elaborate for the tank decor, a rete's stack...I came across them while looking for some setup ideas for my Savannah Monitor, and thought a narrower version with some vertical spaces aswell as horizontal ones would be a nice addition:



Rete's Stacks

This could provide plenty of hiding spots to feel comfortable, and a whole temperature gradient for eggs to be laid in

Thanks,
Paul

[holocaustto]

I like the "racks" idea. Specially for eggs, if you want to incubate 'em.