male killing young?

Jo · Post by Jo » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:08 am

I think my male ate/killed his 2 young he had 2 young which had just hatched, then when i came in from work they had disappeared and the male was sittind outside the cave just next to it. I have noticed another male having a scrap with him trying to steal his cave, would this have caused him to do this?

He is back in the cave now, i have had look around near the cave but i can't see the hatchlings so i think they must be gone.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:15 am

Hi Jo,

Sorry to hear about the two fry.

A male with spawn/fry can end up eating it if he feels threatened or is challenged by another male as I have found out a few times. Placing their caves well away from each other may help the situation, it worked for me anyway. It looks like your males are still fighting for supremecy, things should settle down eventually.

Adam

Jo · Post by Jo » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:20 am

Cheers Adam, there is no caves near the spawning cave i just think they want it as it must be in the best position or something, i suppose a small consolation is that it was a small spawn and not a big one i think i would be devastated if it happened to a normal size clutch of around 7-9.

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:22 am

I knew males could eat the eggs if they feel threatened, but their young ones? I thought the little ones had spines that prevented that kind of thing once they got freeswimming, but I might be wrong of course. Wouldn't be the first time!

I still wouldn't consider them lost just yet, they're unbelievably good at hiding, and can squeeze themselves into the tiniest crack at that age. Hopefully they'll emerge undamaged in a week or so

Jo · Post by Jo » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:35 am

These 2 had only just hatched the previous day so were still on their egg sac, and i have looked around the cave for them as i dont think they can go far still on their eggs. I think they must be dead.

I was surprised too as i thought they would only kill/eat them before they hatched i didn't think this would happen after they hatched

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:59 am

If I remember correctly Hamish experienced something similar. The male turned on his fry and ate a few of them.

Males can be pretty pig headed when two of them have decided that they want the same cave. I'm pretty sure that the other male's aggression led to the fry being eaten. I'll post up a picture at some point of what happened when two of my males decided they wanted the same cave.

I managed to find the link:

http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtop ... ight=#7112