Ensatina e. croceater

[russ]

Just a few pics of the progress of some E.e.croceater from this year.

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RUSS

 

[jesper]

Excuse my ignorance, but do these sals not go through a larval phase and do they hatch terrestrially?

Very nice photos.

 

[joseph]

The eggs are laid terrestrially and skip the larval stage.

 

[mike]

All I have to say is wow. Skipping the larvae stage.

 

[russ]

That's correct, no aquatic larval stage. They took ~80 days to hatch.

RUSS

 

[josh]

congrats russ!! did you breed them or was this a gravid caught female?? the babies are incredible. you get an ATTA BOY!!! lol. good job!

 

[russ]

This one was gravid when collected. I has two other croceaters lay but they both consumed their eggs within 48 hours. I immediately removed these at that point, and actually she had eaten a few already.

I had several other Ensatina that appeared to retain their eggs, but in light of how quickly they may consume them I'm inclined to believe that they're not retaining them but instead consuming them before I ever see them. I noticed that when you looked at their abdomens it looked like they were still carrying eggs, not that they had been eaten. This may explain the low deposition rate I thought I was having. They're probably all depositing, I'm just not pulling them fast enough. This year I plan on checking their cover daily.

RUSS

 

[josh]

wow! that sux! is this something that all ensatina display or just croceator?? are they doing this even when really well fed?? good luck russ!

-josh

 

[russ]

I'm not sure what causes this behavior. A few people have commented that it may be some stress factor. It may be the checking for eggs in the first place that is stressing them. I'm danged if I do and danged if I don't.

I'm pretty sure that a couple of my klauberi did it too last season, though I never saw the eggs.

RUSS