Marbleds -- going aquatic

[TJ]

 

[william]

haha,

LOL thats such a cool picture, do you have a camera with you all the time? how do you get such great pictures lol!

 

[chris]

So they've gone aquatic now. Are they breeding? Could I use this picture for the front cover of my GCSE Design Project?
Brilliant pics, as usual! I seem to remember a picture of a crested doing this as well...
Chris

 

[benjamin]

You always seem to have the ability to take a picture at just the right moment.

 

[TJ]

Thanks guys, but this one made it pretty easy for me as he was snapping at the side of the tank for a couple of minutes and I managed to get off plenty of shots.

Chris, I just introduced them to water today. Four of the eight took to water pretty much right away and fed on live bloodworms in the water for the first time. I'm hoping the remaining four will follow suit.

Yes, I had a crested newt that did the same thing. I'm not sure what it means as these marbleds are very gentle creatures

They've always been hand-fed. Sure, go ahead and use the pic

I don't think they're ready to breed. No crests have developed. Or do the crests only develop when the males are kept aquatically?

 

[william]

lol, it's gone into the teenage moods age

 

[joshua]

Play the theme music to Jaws. HAHA Really good picture.
Now you know it's got a healthy mouth.

 

[joeri]

Good laugh!
Thanks for sharing Tim

 

[TJ]

Thanks guys.

I don't know if it is only my imagination but one day after being introduced to water, this male's tail seems whiter, it seems to be developing a crest and its cloaca seems more swollen...

I learned today from somebody who raises marbleds that the repeated opening of the mouth is likely part of the newt's physiological adjustment to suddenly being in the water after having been on land ever since morphing -- and that it is not necessarily a good thing. After being warned that perhaps my water level (25 cm) was too deep to start out with, I have reduced it to less than 10 cm. All eight of mine are still OK, but have others had any problems with drowning at this stage?

(Message edited by TJ on March 13, 2005)

 

[joeri]

I think triturus species don't devellop a crest on land. They mate in water only.

Thumps up for yours. If it devellops, keep posting the pictures

 

[TJ]

Thanks Joeri. Will do.

And yes, I would expect that would be the case

So far, so good. This male remains in the water. All others are on land. Glad to report no drownings. I'll be taking further precautions though.

So hey, what does anybody have to say about the tail? Does the male of this species typically develop a nupial sheen? Does mine pictured here have one or is it all in my head?

I'll be moving this thread in a couple of days over to the Eurasian Newts discussion area.

(Message edited by TJ on March 14, 2005)

 

[TJ]

Upon returning home this evening, I found two males in the water with developing crests, white sheens and wider (it seems) tails

(the one pictured in this pic above this one is the one on the bottom in this pic)

(Message edited by TJ on March 14, 2005)

 

[TJ]

Their cloaca are growing, growing growing

 

[jeff]

That's great, Tim. I'm counting the days until my marms are ready for water.

 

[benjamin]

I've seen male smooth newts with crests on land well away from water in the wild. I've also found crested road kill

. When they are on land it flops kind of awkwardly to one side.

 

[pin-pin]

Wonderful marm photos, Tim!

It really brings out their funny personality!

I'm not sure what you mean by "gentle creatures"--mine turn into little monsters during feeding time. I've taken to separating them during feeding since I swear that I've seen some jealousy/revenge bites when I fed them in the same tank.

 

[TJ]

Best of luck with yours, Jeff.

Interesting, Benjamin. It would be interesting to see a pic of one with a large but flopping crest -- other than roadkill

Thanks Pin-pin. The best part about it is that I've raised them from when they were just itty-bitty things 2 years ago. To see them change before my eyes like this is a blast! Much more rewarding than buying parasite-infested adult newts from a pet shop as in my previous experience with this species.

True, come feeding time, they have always been pretty aggressive, eating three times as much as any of my Cynops of similar size would!

On land, they've always been tame and sluggish (partly because they're fat from eating so much!). But the ones that are now in the water seem to have undergone a personality makeover. They're suddenly quick and alert, and engaging in some interesting display behavior with each other. Since a three aquatic ones are males, who knows, they might be establishing a pecking order of sorts. I've seen a couple bites occur but also a lot of "sniffing" going on. I guess they're feeling amorous and are anxious for the females to take to the water

I'm carefully watching the third one that just entered the water on its own. Compared with the two that had been in the water already, the tail is thinner and the white sheen (if that's indeed what it is) is smaller, and so are the developing crest and cloaca.

(Message edited by TJ on March 15, 2005)

 

[TJ]

Major development: female in the water!

All three males in the water are vying for her attention, including with tail-fanning.

 

[TJ]

As can be seen here, the female indeed has no white sheen on her tail (to answer my own earlier question):

(Message edited by TJ on March 15, 2005)

 

[TJ]

A closer look at an unparted cloaca:

(Message edited by TJ on March 16, 2005)