Question: breeding

[Gregarious]

I have recently picked up a C. Orientalis (chinese fire belly newt), she appears to be gravid. If I am correct are the eggs allready fertile. I have seen other newts doing their dance (alpines) where the male wont leave the female alone but is he fertilizeing the eggs while doing the dance or has it allready occured with the passing of a sperm sac at some previous time. So my question would be do I need to get a male or could the eggs allready be fertile. She was in with two males when I picked her out.

 

[Jennewt]

She could lay fertile eggs for a few days/weeks. Beyond that, she would need a male.

The males pass the sperm sac immediately after doing "the dance" (if they have succeeded in interesting the female). For a step-by-step outline of the courtship process, read the breeding section of this sheet:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_ensicauda.shtml

 

[Gregarious]

Thank you for the input , I have read the care sheet and have even witnessed the act but still did not know if one sperm sac was enough. It seems evident that I need to get a male if fertile eggs is the goal. My hat is off to those male newts that chase women around endlessly, I would lose patience after a while but that might explain why I am still single (lol). Thanks again