CACAdmin
Jul 23rd 2010, 10:27 AM
Last night for the very first time, I actually got to observe two of my white-tipped BN's spawn as they spawned in the cave near the entrance. The only part I missed was seeing the female enter the cave (stupidly, I was too busy watching and forgot to take pics:rolleyes: ).
It was fascinating to watch the process which went like this:
Male shoving his head into the cave but not entering completely. At first I wondered if he was stuck and trying to get out (when he popped his head out for a second was when I saw the tail of the female). He kept pushing and shoving his way in (I guess to pin her in the right spot :Dunno: ).
Eventually, the male entered only half way upside down and tail first and it became obvious that he was fertilizing the eggs. After a minute he slowly and carefully exited (immediately placing his nose protectively by the entrance)... about 30 seconds later the female slowly emerged also nose first and upside down.
What was cool was to watch how tender he was with the female as she emerged and looked obviously tired. As she emerged he kept gently touching her on the nose and rubbing her nose very gently every couple of seconds. He waited patiently for her to regain her strength and exit. The second she was out, he entered the cave (guess I won't see him for several days now as he tends to the eggs). The female stayed only a moment looking into the cave (maybe to make sure papa was going to stay in there and look after them.) Then off she swam.
I felt so privileged to be here to watch and to know the exact day of the spawn (I'm always guessing).
It was fascinating to watch the process which went like this:
Male shoving his head into the cave but not entering completely. At first I wondered if he was stuck and trying to get out (when he popped his head out for a second was when I saw the tail of the female). He kept pushing and shoving his way in (I guess to pin her in the right spot :Dunno: ).
Eventually, the male entered only half way upside down and tail first and it became obvious that he was fertilizing the eggs. After a minute he slowly and carefully exited (immediately placing his nose protectively by the entrance)... about 30 seconds later the female slowly emerged also nose first and upside down.
What was cool was to watch how tender he was with the female as she emerged and looked obviously tired. As she emerged he kept gently touching her on the nose and rubbing her nose very gently every couple of seconds. He waited patiently for her to regain her strength and exit. The second she was out, he entered the cave (guess I won't see him for several days now as he tends to the eggs). The female stayed only a moment looking into the cave (maybe to make sure papa was going to stay in there and look after them.) Then off she swam.
I felt so privileged to be here to watch and to know the exact day of the spawn (I'm always guessing).