Having trouble breeding newts(C.pyrrhogaster)

[red newt]

I have trouble making newts lay eggs.
I'm trying to breed red color morph of Japanese fire bellied newts(C.pyrrhogaster).
But they don't lay eggs. Does anyone have any idea as to how to make them lay eggs? I really want help.

Details
I have two color morph females and 4 usual males. The 6 newts were collected in September last year in the same place. I keep these 6 newts in 60cm tank. Feed mainly nightcrawlers and sometimes chicken lever ,isopods and grindalworm. Last winter I placed the larger female in a fridge for one month to induce hibernation(temp：5℃～8℃). Another smaller female was kept with males in room temperature no lower than 10℃ in winter.
I wanted them to lay eggs until May but they didn't .So I injected HCG for 3 times to induce oviposition. First injection:5/29 100IU. Second injection 5/31 100IU. After these injection I saw the larger female folding Brazilian elodea (Egeria densa)with her hind legs for once(6/19). But she did't lay eggs. So in 6/20 I injected 200IU of HCG to both females. After the third injection the larger female had once folded water plant with her hind legs again, but still she laid no eggs. Both females' cloaca seems to be swollen enough.

 

[seandelevan]

Sometimes it’s a matter of trial and error. Here are things ive noticed that produces egg laying:

plants..more the better. I’d triple the amount you have in there now. In my tank I have probably 5-6 types of plants and 90% of eggs are laid on dwarf sagittaria.
water change. Do 100% water change with either slightly warmer or colder water they are in now
light. Leave them in the dark a few days...then slowly increase light time as if to simulate longer daylight just like spring.
food. Especially the females. Seems like when they are well fed they are more likely to breed.

I find when I do all of these around the same time...in the late winter I get bombarded with eggs. Trying to replicate a spring thaw and season change is key. Think about when these animals reproduce in the wild...warmer weather, more light, more plants, more food.... Who knows? Someone might come on here and tell you to do all the opposite. But that is what works for me.

 

[red newt]

Thank you very much for your helpful advices.
And sorry for replying so late.
I added plants and I will do water change now.
Could I ask you what kind of stuff do you feed your newts , and what the temperature is when your newt(C.pyrrhogaster) oviposit?

 

[seandelevan]

Thank you very much for your helpful advices.
And sorry for replying so late.
I added plants and I will do water change now.
Could I ask you what kind of stuff do you feed your newts , and what the temperature is when your newt(C.pyrrhogaster) oviposit?

90% of their diet are earthworms. I’m lucky to live on 2 acres of hardwood forest. I simply roll over a rotting log and collect them there. Other 10% are frozen bloodworms. I have also held off on feeding them for like a week or two....and then let them have a feeding frenzy..that also gets them in the mood.

Temp wise...I have them in my unheated side of my basement...so in the late fall, winter, early spring it stays around 59-64F. Egg laying seems to last from late Feb until April. Rarely ever outside those months. I have a smart timer where their lights turn on and off with the sunrise and sunsets. So for me their lights are on from 7am to 6pm in those months give or take. Oh I also have well water which might make a difference. I had my newts for a few years living at a different house that had municipal water....and never reproduced...as soon as I moved they mate like clockwork now.