C. cyanurus morphs!

[xMIDNIGHTx]

After about four months after receiving the eggs (Thanks Jen!) I finally have my first morph! I have not lost any up to this point and every one looks pretty healthy. There is quite a size difference between the twelve and this one was out of the three largest larvae. I have fed them blackworms up to this point with great success and I intend to separate this guy into a smaller swallow container until it eats. I hope all goes well and I will post more as more happens!

Heres some pics

Mitch

 

[troutnerd]

How is the morphing going? You must have a bunch by now? Would love to read an update.

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

Morphing is going great. Only one has yet to lose its gills and become completely morphed. I did lose three of them which I believe comes down to drowning. All three still had a nub of gills left and was found at the bottom of the tank, but they were all pump from eating well.

They are all used to to being in the water full time and enjoy stuffing themselves with blackworms which I have used from start to finish. Unlike most Cynops, these can be raised in an aquatic and can skip an terrestrial stage.

They are very bold and extremely active. Most have a light blue sheen and full color. I keep them at a stable 70 degrees in a ten gallon tank that is around 1/3 filled. I have been slowing raising the water level. Hopefully I the next week or two I can up this to a 3/4 full.

Overall I am very happy with this species and hope to rasie more Cynops in the future! Once I put them in their new tank I will take some pics.

Mitch

 

[troutnerd]

Fantastic news. I'm hoping to be able to raise a group up as well..as soon as my little colony gets in the mood.

Gord

 

[Jennewt]

What temperature are you keeping them, Mitch? Aside from drowning, the only thing that would have killed them was being too cold. C. cyanurus juvs are prone to drowning if they are too cold. I would define too cold (for this species only!!!) as being below 67F.

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

I have tried to keep them at 70 degrees as they were morphing. During water changes this could change a degree or two. It could have been because of the temperature that the drownings occurred. I had the water level around 3" and it did get cool for them from time to time (66 - 68?).

I dropped the water depth to around 1 1/2 - 2" and added more haul out points a couple of weeks back when I was having a problem. I have not lost any since and have been slowly increasing the water depth. Right now its around 4" and all seem to be very comfortable in the water.


The one that I was taking longer to morph (hoping for neoteny) has just started to haul out on the cork floats, I wish him all the best as he is the last one to morph.

Mitch

 

[Jennewt]

By the way, the juvs look very good in the photos. They reached a good size before morphing. There are always a few cyanurus that seem to delay metamorphosis (often for months), but I've never seen any of them actually remain neotenous.

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

As a little update, I have finally got the new setup finished and relocated them into it. All the newts are around 2 1/4" long and seem to have developed quite a bit of color. Some are lighter shade, some are a bit darker but all similar in actual color. I have increased the temp to around 72 degrees and still have not had any problems since the original loss.


I used great stuff and coco fiber to make the back drop land area with several low areas and floating cork for haul outs. I still have to add some plants (using plastic ones right now) but overall I am very happy.

Mitch

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

Here are the pics

 

[caudatadude28]

Wow, that is a very nice set-up! How many total are there? Do they go on the land section to rest much? They look very healthy and happy in thier set-up. Is it a 10 gallon?

 

[zuccone]

Hi,

Just a question about this cynops light coloration : are they going to be darker with time or not ? I have never seen Cyanurus with this coloration in France ...

Thank you for your answer et sorry again for my english !

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

Wow, that is a very nice set-up! How many total are there? Do they go on the land section to rest much? They look very healthy and happy in thier set-up. Is it a 10 gallon?

Thanks AJ! There are currently nine total. They used the floating cork before moving into this setup but now they never break surface. Usually they hide in the java moss about a inch under the water. It is a ten gallon

Hi,

Just a question about this cynops light coloration : are they going to be darker with time or not ? I have never seen Cyanurus with this coloration in France ...

Thank you for your answer et sorry again for my english !

I have seen many over here that are fairly light in color. Before rear leg development all were a very light color. After this point some stayed the same and others started to get darker. In my group, only two out of nine are a darker tan/brown. I do not know if this will change over time as they get older. I was quite surprised myself as I thought they were going to be much darker.

Any pics of ones you have over there? I will try to get some close ups for a little comparison now that mine are a little older.

 

[caudatadude28]

Post a new photo of thier tank!

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

Sorry for such a bad pic, it looks much better in RL. There is still tanning of the water from the wood and coco fiber. The java moss has gone nuts, it has grown terrestrial all over the wood and into the small pond. It is now spreading to the other area since I made the other land portion into another pond. That's one thing about java moss that's great, it loves flowing water! As awesome as the land portion is, its a shame the newts never want to use it.

I had to throw a pic of the little buddy that came to say hi during the photo shoot!

Mitch

 

[caudatadude28]

Thanks for the update. The set-up and your newts look great!

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

I cannot contain my excitement and needed to post an update!

After around a year of hatching, these guys have begun the cycle all over again. Just hours ago I found two eggs in my C. cyanurus tank! I am so excited to see this, although there is only two and I believe they are going to be duds because of the young age it is still wonderful to see. It is such a big moment for me, I have grown so attached to these guys.

I just recently switched them to a new, more aquatic setup and ever since the males have developed a nice blue sheen and tail fanning all the females. The females have been increasing in plumpness for the last few weeks and this would explain it. The water temperature has been varying around 68-73 degrees the last few weeks. I have also tried to mimic the sunlight as best I could, but nothing over the top or special.

I will keep a sharp eye on the eyes for develop and hope for more. We will see what happens and I will keep this updated...

Mitch

 

[merk199]

When your cyranus morphed originally how deep was the water? When did you start to see morphing starting around three months after hatching? Just curious since I have about 20 approaching the month mark and I want to start getting prepared. Do you know of a care sheet or a raising from eggs care sheet?

Currently I have them seperated in three shoe boxes by size. I have small, medium, and large. The large you would think were older than the medium.....Strange how that is working when they get the same diet and all...

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

Good to see another member raising these guys. When my cyanurus morphed it was around 4 months after hatching. I had the water at only about 2 inches deep or less when they started to leave the water. I had tons of plastic plants and small cork islands in there to prevent drowning but still never allowed them to become completely dry or leave the water. After they all morphed and were eating fine I raised the water alittle bit every week until the ten gallon was 3/4 filled.

There is no caresheet for cyanurus as there is several races of the species which have not been truely measured. I used blackworms and chopped earthworms when feeding and they ate well. I kept the water warm, at around 70 - 72 degrees at all times even until a couple of months ago. I had these guys through winter which made me resort to a heater. I never had a problem with feeding, even when they morphed but I think keeping them wet and in water all the time is key.

I also had a difference in size between the larvae into morphing. I lost one large morph and one small one. Both seemed to have drown and I was not able to get them in time. The small one I believe was a runt and was basically a small picky eater throughout its life.

I assume you know of this basic care sheet
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/raising.shtm

I didnt really do anything different, changed the water daily with spring water, used chopped blackworms through larvae stage and beyound and kept it at a warm, steady temp.

If there are any other questions I can answer please feel free to ask. Good luck!


Mitch

 

[Lesueurii2]

That is completely awesome, congrats Mitch!
Anthony

 

[SludgeMunkey]

I cannot contain my excitement and needed to post an update!

After around a year of hatching, these guys have begun the cycle all over again. Just hours ago I found two eggs in my C. cyanurus tank! I am so excited to see this, although there is only two and I believe they are going to be duds because of the young age it is still wonderful to see. It is such a big moment for me, I have grown so attached to these guys.

I just recently switched them to a new, more aquatic setup and ever since the males have developed a nice blue sheen and tail fanning all the females. The females have been increasing in plumpness for the last few weeks and this would explain it. The water temperature has been varying around 68-73 degrees the last few weeks. I have also tried to mimic the sunlight as best I could, but nothing over the top or special.

I will keep a sharp eye on the eyes for develop and hope for more. We will see what happens and I will keep this updated...

Mitch

Eggs!

I do the Happy Dance for you most vigorously, sir!

I shall also sacrifice this Twinkie and this Swiss Creme Cake to the Wife to help your eggs in their viability!