Posted by:
FR
at Mon Apr 20 12:08:56 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by FR ]
First, females should not consume their eggs, no matter how hungry they are. Wild females also get hungry after laying.
Eating their eggs is a sign of a failed nesting. What it means in your case, you will have to find out. But from what you have said, they are not taking to your nests. That is, they do not have the ability to MAKE their own nests. Which from my photos you can see they know how to do. When females "think" they have a failed nesting, and/or the eggs are not viable, they will consume them. This is particularly common with varanids. Pythons will push infertile or dead eggs out of their coils. They are also known to consume "bad" eggs.
Behaviorally, females should hide the nests(a way of nest protection) and/or fight anything they can, to protect the nest. Of course, if the predator is too large, they will give up and live to lay another day. Our torts, pythons, varanids, all actively hide and protect their nest. Colubrids do so in a very low key way. They tend to hide the nest, then move away. My bet is, and this is only theory, they leave a scent trail away from the nest(decoy scenting). Good luck
[ Hide Replies ]
- Why... - kevine, Sun Apr 19 18:18:53 2009
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RE: Why... - FR, Mon Apr 20 12:08:56 2009