Hongkongensis eggs

[louise]

Further to my 'newt spawning' post of last week, my two females are still laying eggs. I am removing about 5 or 6 eggs a day from the tank, and have probably missed a few. I have egg laying plastic strips in for them, but they have ignored these in favour of elodea plants.

The eggs also appear to be fertile, which is good news.

How many eggs do you think I can realistically raise myself?

 

[jennifer]

It depends on how many tanks/tubs you are willing to set up, and how much time you are willing to spend feeding/cleaning. For first-timers, I usually recommend raising about 10-20, though some folks have raised far more. My first batch of newts was ~70, but they were a small, non-aggressive species (Notophthalmus), so I was able to raise them all in one large tank.

You could leave some in the tank - they will either be eaten by the adults (nature's recycling?) or they might actually grow up just as well as the ones raised separately. You could also offer eggs by posting an ad - you might even find someone locally willing to raise some.

Good luck!

 

[TJ]

It's really hard to say as it depends on so many factors, including your ability, your commitment, your intention/goal, how patient you are, the amount of time you consistently have available, your live food budget, etc..

The sad fact is that very few people (and I know Ralf is one of those few -- any others?) have successfully raised Paramesotriton larvae to adulthood -- the post-metamophosis stage being the most difficult.

One might imagine the more animals one has to work with, the better one's chances, but assuming you succeed in raising 30-some larvae to the stage in which they morph, if you don't have the time to on spend caring for so many newtlets at once, then the sheer number of them could be prove counterproductive, and you'd have been better off showering your attention on just a few,

 

[louise]

Hmmm. I will maybe keep about 20 of them and see how they get on. I'm raising axies as well at the moment, so I don't have loads of room. I'm also not experienced enough, so if I can give the rest to people who know what they're doing, they might stand a better chance.

Thanks.