Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I put my male in with my female a week and a half ago. They instantly hid under the news paper and I didn't see them, with the exception of a head poking out to see what was going on. This morning my male is curled up on the other side of the tank from where the buldge that is my female is laying, still covered up.
My question:
Should I take him out to feed him and offer them both a meal...then put him back in with her? I also want to clean the cage, seeing it's been almost 2 weeks, and I want to somehow anchor the paper down so they can't get under it...well, easily. She has never said no to a meal no matter what and it would break my heart if I fed them, he goes back in smelling like a rat and she latches onto him, especially since she's got about 8 pounds and 3 feet on him, I think it could end badly for the little guy.
I also don't want her covered up because I have NO idea if they courted while together, so I also want to see if there's any ovulation going on.
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Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea.
-Rime of the ancient Mariner

take him out, feed them both, then put them back together in about 2weeks.
Good luck!
-April
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

Serperate them to feed.....always...

Leave them apart for a day or two to let the food smell disipate.

Mist them both fairly heavily before reintroduction to wash off any remaining smell, and to let them know somethings going on besides more food's on the way.

After cleaning the cages and replacing the newspaper, I spray the edges of the newspaper with water, especailly where sheets of paper overlap. This allows the paper to adhere to the cage floor as well as the overlapped peices, plus provides a little additional humidity inside the cage. While the paper is wet, and even after it dries, it usually stays in place prety darn well.

Anyhow, that's how I do things. I'm sure others have different routines.

Best of luck,

Mark
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uncommonboa.com