Adults eating their eggs? (cyanurus)

[xMIDNIGHTx]

So given the facts this seems pretty straight forward but I guess I am having a hard time believing it. I have recently started getting a small amount of scattered eggs from my cyanurus. Several months back I had the same thing happen after moving these guys to a new setup. Back then only about 2 out of 30 were fertile and as I remember I would see some eggs one day and when I went to remove them I had one or two missing. I dismissed it because at that time I still had two small feeder guppies in the tank. I removed them since then for worry of them continuing to eat the eggs.

Now I just found a couple more eggs in the tank over the last several days and I have noticed that some were missing. I saw them in the morning and didnt have time to remove them and when I came home to get them, some were missing! Now I realize that the possibility is definitely there but is this common, or natural? I probably feed these guy too much so I cant image they are doing it because they are hungry. Have others had this happen? And with this happening I could never raise my larvae with the adults if I cant even trust them with the eggs! Any insight or personal accounts would be appreciated.

Mitch

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Mine are notorious egg eaters! With my group though I've noticed the males were the main culprits in munching down on the eggs. I finally just moved the females to a new heavily planted tank and that helped out alot.

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

I was hoping it was a fairly common thing and not just my group doing it for some reason!

I will definitely be keeping a closer eye on them, I will just have to check and remove the eggs a couple times a day until the other setup is ready. At this point I have no idea if these are fertile so might not be a huge deal, BUT I dont want eggs to be on my cyanurus long list of tasty treats!

Thanks!

Mitch

 

[achiinto]

I have a group of 30 C.O. and they eat the eggs as well. Mostly the thinner and small males do that. I guess hunger will trigger greater tendency for them to feed on their own eggs.

 

[caleb]

Not sure about cyanurus, but C. ensicauda are notorious for egg eating- this has apparently been observed in the wild as well as in captivity. I've been told that some ensicauda females will lay an egg, then turn round and eat it immediately.

 

[Joost]

doesn't have to be. I keep ensicauda and popei for many years, and they leave the eggs alone. Feeding well, in breeding period has also something to do with it, maybe.

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

Not sure about cyanurus, but C. ensicauda are notorious for egg eating- this has apparently been observed in the wild as well as in captivity. I've been told that some ensicauda females will lay an egg, then turn round and eat it immediately.

That is pretty interesting, I didnt think that the females would sometimes turn around and eat their own eggs.

Feeding well, in breeding period has also something to do with it, maybe.

I would assume this would have something to do with it IF they were not getting alot of food. But I literally offer food every 1.5 days and they still go crazy when I drop the food in. They are like balloons (even the males!) and the eggs still disappear.

So is this common in most Cynops? What about other species of newts?

 

[Greatwtehunter]

My other Cynop species as well as my vulgaris and notos will not hesitate one bit too make a snack out of their eggs.

 

[Joost]

I'm a Cynops keeper for many years, and never had any problems with egg eating adults. So if it's common? Not in my case. Maybe I'm quick enough, to get the eggs out of the tanks. But now I've still eggs in the adult tanks, cause I have enough larvae to raise. And still the eggs are left alone (offcourse a few can be eaten allright)

 

[vistajpdf]

I've removed eggs, too, from my C.o. tank until they were no longer fertile (had separated the pair months prior.) I've had a very high success rate of hatchlings and morphs by doing so. I've noticed a few eggs here and there that she's eating since I stopped removing them, but I'm certain none of them would have hatched. I suggest another holding tank for your eggs if you're trying to breed them and/or raise them.

Dana