Alright, female has laid 6 eggs randomly..and devoured them all...Wtf?

CaptHowdy · #1 11-12-2009, 12:34 AM

I have an established pair- of tokays. Female is fat and happy as well as the male. (They both have fat sharpies for tails) Both are kept in a live viv with plenty of hiding spaces and a hanging pvc tube to hide/lay/etc in.. Humidity is 80% with required dry times as well. Heat in the day is 82-85 in the day time (warmer in the summer seasons) and 75-78 during the evening with a designated heat basking. Which is usually around 80..
They are fed every other day, with roaches supplied in designated dish. Supplemented as needed. I'm really puzzled with this. 6 eggs, all different times. Usually two at a time. Yes, one has been confirmed fertile. However she ate that weeks later. I woke up this morning Nov 11. To see ONE perfectly calcified egg just as all the other have been.. noon hit and she devoured it.

I know tokays eat infertile eggs, but I believe she is a first time layer... would she eat it regardless?

The background of these guys is I received them as partly rehabilitated rescues... I had received one and found it to be female- and the other was male. They were discovered to be pair bonded.. thus I ended up with the pair..

Am I doing something wrong, is this harmful to her? Any ideas would help greatly.

GCS Reptiles · #2 11-12-2009, 01:59 AM

Try providing her a dish of calcium in her enclosure. Sometimes they will eat the eggs if they need the calcium. Also, if they are in a good position, you could cup the eggs so they can't get to them.

CaptHowdy · #3 11-12-2009, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GCS Reptiles

Try providing her a dish of calcium in her enclosure. Sometimes they will eat the eggs if they need the calcium. Also, if they are in a good position, you could cup the eggs so they can't get to them.

Problem is she does have a calc. dish :/

cliff_f · #4 11-16-2009, 10:37 PM

I never really found a calcium dish that helpful with tokays. I just make sure I dust the crickets and they get enough calcium. If she is a first time egg layer I wouldn't worry to much about here eating the first few clutches. I have had that happen with some of my pairs and eventually they start laying them and guarding them. Yeah you do loose a few eggs at first but once they stop eating them i usually never have a problem.

Like Gene said if you can get to them put a deli cup around the eggs. and that will keep her from eating them. I have done that and just put a bunch of small holes in the deli cup and leave the eggs alone they will hatch if they are fertile.

thehotchik1000 · #5 11-22-2009, 11:39 PM

You could have one or two problems. One could be that they are all infertile except the one and that one just got caught up in the mix. If this is the case up the temp a few degrees and the humidity. This will incourage them to mate. If this is not the case and it is a calcium problem. I had an issue getting the calcium powder to stay on the roaches when i would put them in a dish. So i would just pour the calcium powder in the dish and leave the extra powder right in the dish. That way when they dive in to get the food theyll get it anyways. Or it could be both. It wouldnt hurt to try both at the same time.

Good luck
Morgan