Does female Azureus lay eggs without a male around?

[Tomoko Schum]

Hi,

My two Azureus have been laying eggs on and off for a year or more, but no egg hatches. They fungus over when I pull the petri dish. The most recent clutch, which I did not find right away, had jelly part but missing the yolks. I don't know who ate the yolks. Maybe cockroachs, which I know, live in the viv.

Both frogs have relatively small toe pads (one of them has slightly larger pads than the other does) and it is very hard to tell if they are two females or a male and a female pair. I wonder if one of my frog is infertile or if I have two females. Does a female frog lay eggs withoug having a male around?

[Philsuma]

Females can lay eggs without a male being present? Yes I've heard of this as an uncommon to rare possibility in captive conditions.

If you have a couple 'old maids' / females over two years old, they should appear fat and 'hippy'. Most long term females that have not bred can certainly look 'egg laden'. They look like they need a bra when viewed head on.

[Philsuma]

Where do you live? Florida. Florida is the land of 'cockroaches in the viv'.

[Tomoko Schum]

Thank you for the response.
I live in North Alabama. I have been trapping roaches with Roach Motel at night. The number has been reduced considerably in both Azureus and Varadero vivs. Varadero pair are producing, but Azureus have never had any tad. I suppose I need to look for an adult male again. It has been a bit difficult to locate one locally so far.

[Philsuma]

We need pics of the frogs to make a decent guess as to sex.

[Tomoko Schum]

Here are some old pictures. I don't have current ones right now:

One of the two frogs:


Another one:

[tazman]

Just because they fungus over doesn't necessarily mean they are infertile. Have you tried adding methylene blue to the water in by the eggs? From your photo's the first frog looks like a female and the second one looks like a male.

[Tomoko Schum]

I will add some methyl blue the next time they have eggs.
The toepads of the second frog appear larger than they are due to the light colored tips. Its body shape is very much like the first frog. It's even fatter now.