I need help with my newts badly

G

greg

Guest
Hi everyone,
About a month ago I bought (what the petstore said) a firebelly newt. Then 4 days ago I bought another one. Then one hour ago she began doing weird things to the plants, and little balls began to appear on them. I'm assuming she laid eggs, but doing some research on it it looks as if they are white balls. But the balls that she laid are brown with a clear yolky material around it.

Are these babies? What should I do?

Thanks alot
 
Also, do I move the entire plant into another tank, or do I move just the eggs? How do I do this?

Sorry I'm very inexperienced with newts and wasn't expecting them to ever have children.
 
As well, do I wait til she's had all her eggs, and then move them - or move them while she's laying them.
 
The two questions you've asked are really a matter of your own preference. Moving the entire plant would be easier, but you could also carefully cut off the leaves and transfer them to another tank.
You could also leave the eggs where they are and then move the larvae once they've hatched, or choose to not even move them at all. If you leave them in the same tank it is possible that the adults will eat the eggs and the larvae. Keeping the adults well fed would reduce the number of offspring eaten.
 
First of all, relax and take a moment to enjoy this little miracle of life. Babies can grow in the adult tank too. Some will get eaten by the parents but some will probably survive. Sometimes the adults will eat all the eggs so if you really wish to raise a few newts taking out some of the eggs now will be a good idea.

You can start a new tank for the eggs and when it is ready decide if it's worth to move an entire plant or just a few leaves or even parts of leaves. Don't try to pry the eggs off the leaves.

I "harvest" eggs about twice a week. Most of the time I just transfer the leaf(s) with the egg, sometimes part of the plant (if there are many eggs clustered in a single stem).

Take a close look at the eggs regularly. Some will develop a white fuzz, these eggs have turned bad (if possible remove them but don't worry too much if you can't). Others will remain clear and a little newt will start to grow. A marvelous thing to observe.

Enjoy while they're still in the egg! The real work starts about a week after they hatch and the hardest time will be the first weeks after they morph (leave the water).
 
This is also why you might want to consider only havest only a few eggs. Maybe ten or twenty of them. I have got like 60+ and I spent more than 1 hour per day to take care of them. It strongly influenced my life style.
Although I like it.
happy.gif
 
Yes, raising a few is much easier than raising 50. I would say that you should try to raise about 15-20 eggs..

~John
 
You do not need to do anything unless you want to. If they are cynops species they are less likely to eat their own eggs or larva. They also can lay eggs over a 4-8 week period. It may be easier to separate them and introduce micro foods (brine shrimp, black worms, etc). I have two adult pairs breeding now and I have larva of all sizes in the same tank. There is floating cork bark for the babies to crawl out on after metamorphosis, and tons of micro food in the tank (I have black worms multiplying in the tank). I have 12 juveniles now, and about a dozen larva. The females lay daily. I try to give her fresh elodea or anacharis plants every other week, because the plants take a beating. If you are into culturing brine shrimp every 3-4 days, feeding baby larva twice a day, and keeping the water very clean, then go ahead and separate them. This is my 7th generation of cynops newts and have reared the larva many different ways.
You could also share the eggs with another member on this board and let them too try to rear them doubling your chances of survival.
Good luck,
 
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