My apuanus finally ready to breed???

[andrew]

Well i have a colony of 4 m. a. apuanus that are about 2 years old now. Last spring, the males went into breeding condition but the females showed no real interest and no breeding took place. This year it is looking a little different. Here is the first female, by far the "biggest" in the belly.
Have a look:

And here is the second female, not quite as big, but still looks like she is holding some eggs.. Not the best shot either, the only one i could get that really showed her belly

And of course, some of the always ready, males:

I am assuming that the females are pregnant, but please give me a second opinion or just some observations!

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[andrew]

And heres another pic of the first, bigger female that i thought was just a nice shot =)

(Message edited by andrew_taricha on February 12, 2007)

 

[jennifer]

Yes, they sure do look gravid! I would be surprised if you don't get some eggs this year.

 

[alan]

Looking good. What temperature have they been kept at over the winter?

 

[andrew]

They were in an outside room, separate from my house since i moved them in there last summer.
So the water temp followed the natural temperatures here in Washington, and in early winter, have been ranging around 40-50F/4-10C. we had a few cold snaps where i had to be careful not to let the tank freeze over.
i brought them inside about 3 weeks ago and this is the result. GRAVID! They are kept upstairs in my old, remodeled house which has no real insulation and is way too cold for me. But the newts like it. they are now usually around 62F/17C
Andrew

 

[alan]

Sounds good. Feed them well and they should breed this year.

 

[andrew]

Well i thought you would all like to know, not 2 days after starting this post, my gravid female started laying eggs! She has been laying for just more than a day now and has laid about 15.. and shes not looking ready to stop anytime soon!