Question: Male only has one sweetehart?

[chemgrl08]

I have a tank with 3 females and 1 male. They are all happy, healthy, and getting along, and I've even had several batches of eggs from one pair. There's only one male, so it's obvious who the father is. In addition, with every batch (about 4 so far), I have seen only one female laying the eggs. That means that for whatever reason, the male keeps picking this single female- no other sweethearts for him! lol I don't really have a problem with it, but I was just curious as to whether this was normal behavior. Perhaps this female is just particularly healthy/attractive in the eyes of a male axie? :wink:

 

[millerj76]

Maybe the other 2 females are not sexually mature? or maybe the male now knows which female is the easiest 'lay'. Maybe it is neither, but it does sound strange, would you consider maybe moving the female that has laid the four batches of eggs, so as not to overstress her, as laying the eggs takes a lot out of the female, i am not demanding this, as it is entirely up to you what you do with your 'pets', just suggesting. Also, if a female is overbred, she can become 'eggbound'. What colour are your axolotls, are the females all the same colour, could the male have a preference, or is he mating with same colour as himself. Either way, i hope your axxies are all doing well, cheers,,john

 

[chemgrl08]

Re: Male only has one sweetheart?

Thanks for your thoughts. I was actually considering moving the female for a while just as you said, so now that you suggested it independently I will probably move her. They haven't been breeding at a blistering pace, but I can imagine it might take it's toll on the female, as you said. The male is a leucistic and the female is albino, while the two neglected females are wild type and melanoid, so yes, there is a big difference in color. All of them should be sexually mature though; I purchased them all at the same time/same age, and I've had them for a year and a half.
Hmm. Strange. Oh well. If anyone else has ideas on why this is happening, please feel free to contribute!

 

[Dr0gr1n]

moving the female that has laid 4 times already may spark the males interest to breed with one of the other females and prove if they are in fact sexualy mature.

good luck