MyTotally Unexpected Eggs

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dawn

Guest
This morning on my way out to work I checked on my newts and there is one of the female alpies in a funny position:
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What? She's not old enough to be doing that, I thought. I just got them! This won't happen until next year when I have prepared by reading all about it. I looked further:
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Look at those little white things! Can they BE????
O great! I have to go to work for 16 hours NOW! Well, let me grab some reading material on the way out and ponder this instead of working, I thought, and collector that I am, took out of a binder some info I printed from caudata culture on alpestris, larvae, and eggs. The best I could come up with on short notice was this plan: with another 16 hour shift looming tomorrow, I'll warn them I'll be three hours late. Then I'll set up a tank and this was my idea:
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A 5 gallon tank with a gentle bubbler, and I threw in a couple leaves from the backyard pond hoping that by the time they hatch they'll be some microorganisms to eat. I cut off all the leaves with eggs and put them in a smaller container with holes (just in case I decide I don't like this plan and want to remove the eggs without having them scattered about) and put them in the tank. I welcome any comments, and any ideas how long they'll take to hatch, and do you think they even look fertile? They're all white, but they were just laid today. thanks!
And a final pic, this is the tank the parents live in.

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And one final word: YIKES! I was not ready for this!
 
I had the same thing happened to me, but I raised mine from egg's I got from Jennifer. I ended up with about 30 newts from the egg's she send me and I had a ton of egg's, but the larvae never stayed alive that long after they hatched, not sure why, but we thought it was because the newts were still young, and that it was the first time that they have breed, so I didn't do so good with them this year.

The adults are a little under a year old now and some of mine sill have huge gills.
 
Congratulations, Dawn
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There is nothing to compare with the excitement of finding unexpected newt eggs! Your setup for the larvae looks fine. You may want to add some live plants, if you can spare any from your other tank(s). No hurry - they take around 3 weeks from laying to hatching.

(Message edited by jennewt on April 17, 2007)
 
M. Shrom said that as first time layers there may be many unfertile eggs. But it's good to practice (for me and them!). Even if only one hatches it'll be a thrill, I'll just go as far as the adventure will lead. I'll be getting more plants tomorrow, a day off after two 16s (actually three days off!) She laid about ten more today. I had just bought a bunch of new plants last week that I distributed to a few tanks, but when I saw her laying, I took the new plants out of the other tanks and gave them all to her. That pet store makes a mint off me!
 
I went to the petstore this morning and got some more plants and told them about the eggs. One of the owners suggested I get "acriflavin" (methylene blue) and use it prophylactically. I said I'd look into it. He said (! and don't get mad, he really is quite knowledgable and I respect his opinion most of the time) "What do newt people know about eggs?" From a short search on it, I'm getting the idea that newt people don't use this prophylactically and don't use it much at all.
 
I'd say, since newts lay eggs, we would know a fair bit. Defend our honor!! lol

I'm against prophylactic use of medication. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
 
Hi Dawn. Acriflavin is formalin and malachite green. It can stunt growth durring use. I'm not sure it is good for salamanders or salamander eggs. I have used methylene blue allready with mixed results. Methylene blue does prevent fungus but weakens the larvae. I wouldn't use anything unless you have problems.
 
I was thinking the same thing (that I didn't want to add anything if I didn't feel it was necessary) but he seemed so adamant that I told him I'd check it out first. Thanks both of you!
 
<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Dawn O. on Tuesday 17 April 2007 - 18:45 (#POST128846):</font>

"What do newt people know about eggs?"<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote> ROFL I'd like to show this guy my basement
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I agree with Michael's advice. Fungus on fertile eggs is very rare.
 
Here is my egg tank today, about ten days later,
and a picture of an egg. I took about 25 pics and this is the only half-decent egg picture, but many of them look like this, with a big clear section and a little comma inside. So I'm assuming any egg that's gotten this far is fertile, and just the ones that turned a little fuzzy are the infertile ones. Fewer did that than I expected. Looking around the parents' tank for eggs to remove is the adult version of hunting in your yard for easter eggs. And just as much fun! I'm thinking we're about half-way there! Today I'm going to a local pond to see what micro-foods are available with a bucket and a brine-net. It's like shopping for baby gear! But cheaper.
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Nice going, Dawn! Yes, once they reach the "comma" shape, they are fertile, with 100% certainty. Happy hunting!
 
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