Successful Pachytriton breeding!

[Greatwtehunter]

That's right, some of my paddletails have laid eggs. I was able to get pictures of one female's nest but the other one attacks any and everything that's in the water, including my fingers! These are Pachytriton labiatus.

Anywho, back to the breeding. This year I tried something way different. During the coldest months of the winter I let their tanks naturally evaporate and did not replenish the tank level. Their tanks got well below freezing for awhile but due to the slight current I didn't have to worry about ice forming. The water levels in the tanks eventually got down to about only 4 inches deep. During this time I also did not one water change. After about 3, maybe 4, months I decided to fill the tank back up all at once.

My reasoning behind all this is that as the water evaporated, the current from the filter would decrease. I thought this would simulate the winter time in their natural habitat. As I added the rush of cold water it would cause the filter to run at it's strongest which, in turn, I thought would simulate the spring rains and snow melts.

Now onto the pictures........

 

[stavroske]

Waow Nice job Justin. If the final trigger is found to let them lay eggs, the searching for raising the juveniles can begin. Good luck with the eggs and hopefully this is the beginning of the Pachytriton breeding!

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

1st off I'm a say that...... I knew this day was coming. 2nd thing is congrats! I almost took this post as a subliminal taunt. Since you claim that we're friends I'll side with you as you taunt others!!!!

 

[Alejandro]

That is wonderful Justin! Congratulations! Please keep us posted.

 

[ed_moyer]

Told Ya, I'm not crazy!!! Lol

 

[Black leaves]

simple setup, i defenetly built one like you...

 

[freves]

Good job Justin. How do you cool your tanks down so much in the winter?
Chip

 

[Greatwtehunter]

How do you cool your tanks down so much in the winter?

I leave the basement door and windows open during the day.

 

[froggy]

Great job, congrats. Have you left the male(s) in with the brooding females? I remember Erik Keyster reporting that males suddenly became aggressive and injured females when he bred them. There is a thread somewhere in this section.
Good luck rearing them - plenty of photos, please!

C

 

[Greatwtehunter]

The males have been removed.

 

[anothernewtfan]

So glad to read this. Looking forward to updates.

 

[SpaceCadetHayde]

Very exciting! Any updates? I remember trying this same method with mine a few years ago only to get a batch of duds while my other animals were laying eggs willy nilly without me doing anything. Congrats, Justin!

 

[anothernewtfan]

Still no updates?

 

[Greatwtehunter]

The good news? The eggs were fertile.

The bad news? All the eggs perished after a certain stage in development. I had 3 different containers of eggs and all of them died around the same point in time. I have no clue what in the world went wrong.

 

[froggy]

Sorry to hear that. How did you have the eggs set up? Could it have something to do with not having the mother with them? Perhaps water quality/parameters (hardness, dissolved O2)...

Hopefully next year will bring better luck with eggs

C

 

[damien]

An important step is that you got them to breed. If they breed again next year you can try different methods, see what works.
Hopefully others will try this method and get eggs as well. The more we can get them to breed, the fewer need to be stolen from the wild.

 

[Otterwoman]

That's one thing about our hobby...the successes are super wonderful, and the failures are hugely disappointing. It's not like breeding cornsnakes.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

I left half the eggs in with the female then split the remaining half in between two containers. One container was just a pond setup with tons of plants and the other setup was a simple, plain tank with just an air stone.

I had another female in a different tank lay as well but she ate all of her eggs shortly after I saw them.

I do have a theory on what may have gone wrong. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to being able to test it out next year.

 

[eljorgo]

The ones ate short after you saw might have been infertile. Happens a lot females eating the dizzy ones. The others might have been fertile strange they died in mothers container, were they were laid... So whats the theory about?

 

[Greatwtehunter]

The ones ate short after you saw might have been infertile. Happens a lot females eating the dizzy ones. The others might have been fertile strange they died in mothers container, were they were laid... So whats the theory about?

The eggs from both females were fertile.