Lenny may be ill

[ken]

I just looked over at my tank and Lenny was floating upside down. I disturbed her with a probe and she took off like lightning and then started walking around on the bottom of the tank.

I've removed her from the tank and placed her in a container with damp paper towel. I offered her an earthworm segment and she bit at it, but spit it out and is quite active in the container. Trying to climb out right now actually.

What should I be watching for to make sure she's not seriously ill? I'm sure that floating upside down just isn't good, no matter how weird Lenny is.

*in chat*

 

[ken]

Ok, I feel silly now. I put Lenny back in her tank to observe her, and she immediately went upside down again, clinging to the wisteria near the surface. Then her "boyfriend" came over and kind of mounted her upside down. It would appear that my paranoia has interrupted the strange mating habits of my newts.

 

[pamela]

Hi Ken,

If she is hanging upside down on plants, she most probably is laying eggs. Don't bug her. Females get in the weirdest positions to attach their eggs to plants. Let us know how she is doing.

 

[ken]

So it would appear. Apparently having me around is like having your mom walk in on a date. Ugh...how embarrassing

 

[jacob]

Or it may have been that that position maybe comfortable because of the pressure caused ny the eggs.

 

[ken]

Well, she's laid quite a few now. I don't know how I ever confused them with my frog's eggs..quite the size difference. I always thought she was just chubby, guess she was gravid!

I'm gonna be a grampa with any luck

 

[ken]

So far I've collected 25 eggs and Lenny is still laying. I've just been cutting off the leaf sections of the wisteria with eggs and transferring them to a small container with shallow water. Since I collected eggs about an hour ago, Lenny has laid about 10 more.

 

[carly]

Wow! That's so fun! Good luck with the babies!