C. Orientalis--how many eggs?

[offpath]

One of my cynops orientalis started laying eggs recently. She's been going at a rate of maybe 3-4 per day for half a week, and it's really doing a number on my plants. She's very finicky and tends to crush two leaves for every one she lays an egg on. It's a freshly planted tank, so a lot of the plants haven't had a good chance to take hold, and I'm worried I'll lose a bunch of them.

I've tried making plastic strips for her, experimenting with both clear and opaque plastics of differing widths, but no luck. About how many eggs can I expect her to lay, and has anyone had any luck with fake silk plants?

Thanks!

 

[slowfoot]

Take out your expensive plants and house them somewhere else temporarily - it might be a while, so I'd make sure they're comfortable. Then give her something cheap to lay on, like elodea (anacharis). That's what I would do, anyway. Good luck

 

[Nathan050793]

has anyone had any luck with fake silk plants?

In addition to Erin's suggestion, silk plants are OK to use as well. I think Cynops do prefer live plants though.

As for how many eggs she will lay, to quote Caudata Culture- " The females were found to lay 10-236 eggs in a single season, with an average of 96 eggs per female and an average rate of 2.8 eggs produced per day. The average hatching rate was about 74%."

 

[offpath]

After experimenting with silk plants, plastic strips, and any cheep plants I could find, it looks like her favorite by far is java fern (she won't even touch elodea). So much so that she's laid 8 eggs on it today and shows no signs of stopping. Fortunately, the stuff grows like a weed in my three other tanks, so I should have a pretty solid supply.

Crisis averted. =)

 

[Jennewt]

If you just let the eggs hatch where they are laid, the plant usually recovers. I'd suggest to keep trying with the plastic strips. She may warm up to them after a while. Also, I'm sure she would use the strips, or silk plants, if there were no real plants present. Nothing wrong with spoiling your newts, though