ID Egg mass

[esnailme]

Can anyone identify this egg mass?

 

[Kaysie]

Spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum. The milky white is a dead give-away.

 

[esnailme]

Why doesn't this species have a care sheet of it's own?

 

[Kaysie]

The care for all ambystomatids is basically the same. The caresheet for tiger salamanders can be used for A. maculatum.

 

[esnailme]

I went ahead and purchased this egg mass.

It is on ebay.

The auction was supposed to end today but was extended by 6 days.

If interested, I found it by searching "salamander eggs".

I have yet to get the seller to answer a question.

The hobby is very addictive.

I got 3 different species within a matter of weeks.

Wow I am really getting stuck!!!

 

[esnailme]

I rec'd the egg mass today.

Boy this mass looks like a bag of cotton balls.

I am hoping I have not chopped off more than I can chew.

The seller sent 3 egg masses!!!! :uhoh: :uhoh:

I am going to be up to my eyeballs with eggs, yolk and larva.

This is very exciting

Seahorses were beginning to bore the bajeezie's out of me.

 

[esnailme]

correction: The seller sent 2 egg masses.

So far I have larva that hatched on Saturday 04/16/11.

The other larva died

The larva that hatched was moved to a one gallon bare bottom tank.

Today was the first feeding of brine shrimp.

I chose not to feed daphnia because this larva is rather large.

The eggs in the white cottony mass are a dark color.

The eggs in the clear egg mass are a greenish color.

 

[Kaysie]

I'm not sure I follow. Daphnia are larger than brine shrimp, so why feed the smaller food to the larger larvae?

 

[esnailme]

Kaysie,

I can tell you are actually reading my posts........thanks.:wink:

The brine shrimp were fed because I had dwindled my supply of daphnia on the 25 T. marm's larvae. So I figured it would be better to feed baby brine shrimp to the spotted salamander larva than to feed nothing at all. I hope that makes sense.:happy:

 

[Kaysie]

Indeed! Good luck with all your larvae. That's a lot of little mouths to feed!

 

[esnailme]

Trust me I am not a nail biter.....never have been.

Suddenly I have the urge to bite my nails!

 

[esnailme]

I have larvae hatching.....at least 3-5 per day. I will definitely need homes for these babies. These are wild caught so I will need to review forum rules for homing these babies.

 

[esnailme]

I have not updated this thread lately.

I think the churn is beginning to slow down. I did my weekly water change and counted a grand total of 7 larvae. I was thinking there would have been more. There were about 2-3 that did not make it. I have at least one that has little buds as to where the rear extremities are growing.

The eggs mass that I have left does not appear to have much life. I will hang on until the end.

No offense to any other spotted salamander keepers......

These guys are not very friendly!!

My T. Marms are much more cordial.:happy:

This species is totally different. I am not sure if it is because they are wild caught or the fact that it is a different species. I have noticed a lot of embryo's that I thought would make it but did not.

oh....the pics

 

[esnailme]

Spotted Salamander Embryonic Development

I am totally surprised with this species.

It seems as though the larvae have been eating whiteworms since hatching.

I am kidding but this species will slurp up a whiteworm in one slurpppp.

I am down to 3 larvae at 3 different sizes. The largest is at least 1 inch. The smallest is 1/2 inch.

The largest larvae is territorial with the food.

He seems to hover and not want to share.

I might need to remove the smaller ones.

I will keep you posted.

 

[esnailme]

This species is growing at an astronomical rate.

The largest is around 2 1/2 inches.....no joke.

The larvae has lost the "wingy" things on the side. I am thinking they are gills. The shape of the head is more oval shaped. I have put a aquatic rock with a ramp in the container in case he/she is ready to morph. This is the biggest larva I have ever seen.

The smallest is about a inch.

 

[Kaysie]

That's how they roll in the wild. They grow up quickly to get out of the pond before it dries up.

 

[esnailme]

The first larva morphed during the wee hours of the morning.

It was the largest one.

This guy literally was not ready to leave the nest.

 

[esnailme]

The recent morph is as big as a butterball.

You will see.

This little fella is a very beautiful blue with yellow dots.

Today the last 2 larvae morphed.

This species has a rather strange behavior when they ready to morph.

Instead of walking upon the slanted rock, I have seen all of them paddling their little limbs as if they are drowning.

Attached are pictures of my butterball.

He looks as though he will burst.

 

[Kaysie]

What a cute chubby thing!

 

[amberangeloni]

Awww so cute. I used to have a spotted salamander and it's true that he wasn't very friendly, but definitely adorable.