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hi all,
I have 18 zebra's, on sunday night i introduced a new cave (which im trailing as they are very popular with breeders in germany. if they work i may sell some on here). Anywhay......on monday morning the largest male was wedged in the new cave and he hasn't mooved since. At first i thought he was stuck because its a tight fit but there looks to be enough room for him to move.
He is normally first out to food but isnt moving an inch and he keeps wafting his tail round the entrance but in a different sort of movement than before.........not just a hello ladies im here but as tho he might be trying to moove water in the cave?? anyone no what i mean?
I also noticed one of my original females is noticeably slimmer than before (i posted on here ages ago because she was so plump i thought there was somethin wrong) and she is in the cave next door.

I looked in the cave with a torch but cant see anything as he is so tight in there i cant see past him, but when i look he gets very stressed and jumps around and flicks his tail.......
is he gurading eggs and doing a good job at hiding them or just advertising himself? and why isnt he feeding?
what should i do?

I would say there's a fairly safe bet he's guarding eggs...

If they haven't bred before..then I would say putting in a new cave on sunday night and first spawn eggs in it by thursday is somewhat quick...not impossible i guess but certianly quick. But from what you say it sounds like the actions of a male who's guarding eggs.

btw. if he is guarding eggs then he won't be feeding...or nowhere near as much.

I've only seen my male outside his cave once in the last two months!

Good luck!

Oooh! Sounds like congrats are in order for you Andy! Fingers crossed for you and your zebs!

If you have a digital camera try and get a pic of him. If he's at the bottom of the cave with his head angled up and resting on his pectoral fins then he certainly is guarding. He'll also be fanning the eggs with his anal fins.

If not then you're probably just p*ssing him off!!!!