Male C. orientalis early breeding round :S

[rodrigo]

Ok...so i went to the pet-store and got some elodea and ceratophyllum. I put it in the tank and surprisingly after three days of terrestrial life the female goes into the water. half an hour later i found the male desperately following the female, and after 15 minutes i saw the first attempt at tail fanning.

I´m really exited but it´s the worse moment for them to reproduce...i have to care for my new marbleds and my snakes, plus a leopard gecko that my house mate has bought. And i´m in the middle of my exams. Definitely not the best moment for a hundred little larvae...
So i was considering leaving all the eggs in the adults tank. I know the eggs can be eaten and even the larvae. But maybe some will survive.
Anyway the female doesn´t seem to be interested so maybe they won´t breed...
sorry for silly post hehe.

 

[TJ]

Hi Rodrigo. I don't know how many C. orientalis you're keeping there, but you're very unlikely to end up with a hundred larvae in any case. Even if you wanted them, you'd be lucky to get over a dozen larvae from the eggs of a single female after leaving them in the tank unattended. At least in my experience...

 

[rodrigo]

oh i meant a hundred larvae if i removed all the eggs and cared for them properly....anyway a hundred was just an expression. What i mean is that i cannot feed and take care of them now...
But maybe if i leave them with their parents, i´ll end up with a few larvae, without losing too much time. Or maybe they´ll eat all of them and i´ll lose all of them...dunno...
And yes it´s a single female.
The male is compulsively tail fanning and leaving spermatophores everywhere. The female doesn´t pay any attention though.

 

[rodrigo]

Just thought i would show this pic. It´s amazing how those "pili" disappear in a matter of minutes and appear again.
He´s spent the whole day tail fanning. The female keeps ignoring him...maybe she is not ready?? can they have they´re reproductive cicles at different times???

 

[rodrigo]

sorry..forgot the pic :S