Eggs?... Oh My God!!! EGGS!!!! (P.Hongkongensis)

Ben Krysa

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What a suprise I had this morning. My first newt eggs! While doing my daily observations of my Paramesotriton Hongkongensis, I noticed one of the two snapping at the roots of some pothos vine. Upon close inspection of the vine I spotted an egg.:eek: Imagine my suprise!!! The most bizzare thing is that I am fairly certain both of my newts are female. And even if by some chance i do have a breeding pair, how did i not notice breeding behavior? I was reading a thread that suggested Paramesotriton could possibly retain sperm in the manner of Salamandra. I had also witnessed some snapping at java moss in the lastfew days. After removing the vine and moss for inspection I found Five eggs. I put them in a 5.5 gallon tank with some water from the main tank. I have had these newts for about 2 years. They were purchased from a local fish store and were housed with several thin and sickly animals. However both newts were born survivors and quickly began to thrive under my care. I recently did a cleaning and large water change and added some more live plants. I think this could have been what signalled my newt to start laying.
If anyone has any advice, questions or answers to how this may have happened, I would really like to share and discuss. I will post pics as soon as I get some good ones.:D
Ben​
 
Females will sometimes lay eggs even in the absence of a male, so that's one explanation. In this case I would expect the eggs to be infertile. I haven't heard of any newts that could retain sperm for as long as Salamandra can.

The other possibility is that one is male. They are difficult to sex outside of the breeding season. If they are breeding now, then the male's tail stripe should be visible.
 
I'm going to keep a very close eye on the eggs and watch for development. I would really like for them to be fertile. But with no male that doesn't seem likely. Both appear to be gravid, so i will watch them both for signs of laying. If the eggs are not fertile I would imagine a fair amount of my time will be spent searching for a male Hongkongensis. In the mean time I'll try not to get my hopes up.
Ben
 
ben-krysa-albums-p-hongkongensis-picture7722-eggs-1-2.jpg

I took a few pics of the eggs this evening. Sorry for the poor quality. My camera really stinks.
 
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