Egg heavy A. maculatum

[tindomul1of9]

Hi,

I have an A. maculatum that looks egg heavy. This is the first year I have seen this, I suppose before now she was just too immature. If she does not lay the eggs, will she die? If so, what can I do? I rather not release her to the wild as I want to ensure she gets the chance to reproduce and not get killed or eaten. But if I knew I could put her in a place were it is highly likely she will meet a mate I will do it. Any and all advice, help appreciated.

 

[deliriah]

Hi Andrew.
First she will reabsorb the eggs if not bred. This is harmless and as I understand happens throughout her adult life. You just want to be sure that her size is not a medical condition such as bloat.
Also, I am sorry to say, A. maculatum are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity, so unless you have alot of experience, patience, knowledge of their natural breeding habits in the wild, and tons of luck I doubt breeding will be an option for your salamander. They are one of my favorites but I don't possess the ambition to try to breed them. Best of luck with her and be sure to check out some of the other posts and caresheets on A. maculatum. They are very interesting, and this forum has such great information available.

 

[Azhael]

If she has been alone in captivity for a long period, then the eggs are not fertile. Without a proper place to deposit them, she will simply reabsorb them as Deliriah said.
Although it´s true that traditionally they have been very difficult to breed, these days they are being bred in europe by a few people and there have been some succesful stories over the US. Justin, one of our members, managed to get them to reproduce this year, you can find his post around.

 

[tindomul1of9]

Thanks so much! She actually looks like she reabsorbed them. I thought maybe they lacked the ability to do so. So glad that they can. She is doing fine these days, active, eating well, etc.....

 

[deliriah]

Actually I stand corrected. Azhael is right and Justin's post is absolutely fascinating. Gives me the ambition to attempt it myself perhaps. Unfortunatly my current A. macs are a loooong way from maturity. A juvenile that morphed last year, and a handful or so of 2 week old hatchlings.