Cresting in young male dobrogicus

[GussieFinknottl]

The juvenile dobros I got in May have grown quite a bit, and the males are starting to form ridges on their backs. One male even has about 2mm of a toothy crest--not much compared to the crest of a male in full breeding dress, but it's noticeable.

I'm new to dobros, and I'm wondering, what do adult males look like out of breeding season? (I see a lot of pictures of them in breeding dress, but not many out of it.) How much of a crest do they have out of breeding season, and how do you know when they're cresting up to go into breeding mode? And how quickly do they form those tall crests?

Just trying to get a read on these newts' development, which is hard to do from just looking at photos.

Thanks!

 

[otolith]

The small crest you described sounds normal for a sub adult male or an adult out of breeding dress. My male is at about 2-3mm now and will get up to nearly 2cm during breeding season. The crest will usually grow following a winter cooling period once it begins to "warm" up to the low 60s. I've had males crest up out of nowhere during stable weather or in the fall without any significant temperature change though so that's a possibility too.

Welcome to the exciting world of dobro keeping, they were my first triturus and still a favorite.

 

[GussieFinknottl]

Thanks--that's very helpful!

They've been pretty fun. They eat like hogs!