: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
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
