Ambystoma opacum with eggs.

[Jari B]

I have 2.2.0 Ambystoma opacum and one of the females have eggs in her body.
What do I need to do so that she will lay her eggs?

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Are you sure she is full of eggs? This is an 'off' time for them to be gravid. Also, how long have you had her and can you post a picture of her?

 

[Jari B]

I have her a few months now, I bought her in Hamm, she is wild caught I think.
And I am very sure that she does have eggs, some people from the Dutch salamander society have looked at it and they confirmd that she might have eggs.
I will post some pictures tomorow.

 

[Jari B]

I also made a pictures of the terrarium, I keep them in my room.
You can see the difference very good between the male and the female.

 

[robkeulers]

I am far from being an expert on opacum, but she definately looks gravid. nice!

 

[Greatwtehunter]

I'm not so sure she is gravid. She is swollen all the way up to her armpits! I have never seen a gravid opacum that looks like this and I've seen my fair share.

 

[Jari B]

I dont feed them to much, so I think it can't be fat.

 

[huug]

Jari,
you can consider Justin to be an authority on A.opacum!
And lets be honest, we dont have that much experience in the Netherlands breeding A.opacum

Initially i thoughed she might be gravid to, but what Justin says lets me think, she is maybe a bit to fat?!(up to her armpits) Not sure if its a foodcause then, maybe something else?!

 

[Jennewt]

Hi Jari, nobody has said this, and hopefully you already know... opacum are autumn breeders, so it's extremely unlikely that she'd lay eggs anytime soon. I can't really say from the photos whether she's super-gravid or possibly bloated.

 

[tindomul1of9]

I had one not too long ago. She looked the same as yours and eventually died. I really think she was bloated. My colleague performed a dissection and found her full of eggs. She also died in the spring time. I am beggining to believe that these animals lack the ability to reabsorb eggs and this can cause them harm. There is also the possibility that she had a disease, but she did not transfer this disease to the other M. opacum that I had living with her.

Right now, I am possibly facing a similar situation with my M. maculatum. And I am starting to panic and want to find her a suitable mate or do something for her to lay her eggs.