hypertexas
New member
I have a 3 year old female pink skunk that has survived two previous males. Those males performed very well in fertilizing and caring for the eggs. (They died about a year apart due to a couple of water quality accidents when anemones died.) The third male is not fertilizing and eats the eggs.
The trouble is that this male does not have a clue what to do! Unlike the first two males, this third one never even goes through the fertilizing motions. He simply waits for her to lay the eggs and scarfs them up immediately.
See sad video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iykxz_MWpz0
In the final 15 seconds you can see how fat the male is after stuffing himself.
This third male may simply be too young? I notice his vertical stripe does not join the dorsal stripe. Is that evidence of immaturity?
I introduced him about 5 months ago. After her "period of mourning" she accepted the new mate and finally started laying again about two months ago. She lays like clockwork every 8 days. He has now eaten about 6 consecutive nests.
Setup: A 30 gal tank kept at 80 degrees. Skunks share tank with one pajama cardinal which causes no problems. They host an artificial anemone (no more potential pollution problems and more eco-friendly!)
Any thoughts or similar experiences are appreciated. Thanks to everyone for this great resource.
John in Evergreen, Colorado
The trouble is that this male does not have a clue what to do! Unlike the first two males, this third one never even goes through the fertilizing motions. He simply waits for her to lay the eggs and scarfs them up immediately.
See sad video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iykxz_MWpz0
In the final 15 seconds you can see how fat the male is after stuffing himself.
This third male may simply be too young? I notice his vertical stripe does not join the dorsal stripe. Is that evidence of immaturity?
I introduced him about 5 months ago. After her "period of mourning" she accepted the new mate and finally started laying again about two months ago. She lays like clockwork every 8 days. He has now eaten about 6 consecutive nests.
Setup: A 30 gal tank kept at 80 degrees. Skunks share tank with one pajama cardinal which causes no problems. They host an artificial anemone (no more potential pollution problems and more eco-friendly!)
Any thoughts or similar experiences are appreciated. Thanks to everyone for this great resource.
John in Evergreen, Colorado
