N.v.v. eggs?

[deliriah]

I'm so excited! I found an egg! I know it's only one so far but I suspect more since my notos have been very active. That and I may have over done the plants and stuff a tiny bit and therefore have haven't seen any of the other eggs that may have already been laid. I still have two plump little mamas in the tank so there may be more on the way. This is a first for me, so anyone with any experience with breeding these guys load me up with advise please????
I've kept notos for years, quite happy to just see them swimming and happy, or in the case of the few efts I've had, crawling around and happy till ready to return to the water. I only just considered breeding them earlier this year, and with a little halfhearted temp fluctuations and the addition of more plants, well they went crazy!
Any and all advice is much appreciated, this is so new for me. I'm nervous.

 

[Orange Juice]

well I do not have an adult yet, but i recently got some spotted slalamander eggs, so young i still can see their guts and they just got their front little legs.
For the first day or so, they don't really move.You may remove the eggs after they hatch. I have some very small duckweed that floats around. I recommend bare bottom, it is so much easier to clean. There is also a huge plant that is weighed down by a rock, and they love that for cover. Mine like Newt pellets, Now you have to mash it up to tiny peices though.(It makes a huge mess of the tank.) I use a turkey baster to clean up after them. The food part is really a challenge though, here are some good choices;
---Baby brine shrimp
---Finely chopped blood worms
---Newt pellets (mashed up)
Now some of these may not work. It is all just trial and error. they can be pretty hard to take care of. Well you also have to watch your water quality, but I assume you are all good with that as you have healthy adult N.v.v. You should be able to handle it.
They are hard to tell apart from eachother.

 

[Jennewt]

I would caution that it's hard to maintain water quality and avoid infections when using non-live foods. For more info:
Caudata Culture Articles - Raising Newts and Salamanders from Eggs
Caudata Culture Articles - Microfoods

 

[caudatadude28]

I strongly recommend live food as well. Mashed up newt pellets and chopped bloodworms wont work for newly hatched and young larvae. They will just destroy the water quality. Look at the links Jen recommended. They are very helpful.

 

[deliriah]

Thanks guys. Water quality is one of my main worries. I have been able to keep their parameters and temps appropriate for the adults but as I understand larvae are much more susceptible to changes. I should add that I have a very healthy (so far) batch of A. maculatum larvae that were hatched from eggs I was given. They are fed exclusively on live microfoods and are doing well.
Orange Juice, I appreciate your advice.
Jen and AJ Thank you also, I read those articles and they are very informative.
Do you guys think that I will be able to feed them the microfoods that I have been feeding the A. maculatum larvae. I was concerned aboud them being smaller at hatching since the adults of the two species are quite different in size.
I'm so excited about this. I did the egg laying strips shortly after I found the first egg and I'm fairly sure I see a few more eggs in them already. And my two gravid ladies have been hanging around and exploring the strips all day.

 

[deliriah]

Four more eggs today!!! And the one I found the other day seems to be developing! YAY! This is great! Thank you all so much for your advice and articles.
How long does development usually take till they hatch? Anyone? Thanks again.

 

[Azhael]

The usual time it takes most salamandrids to hatch is around 20 days at 20ºC. More or less...

 

[deliriah]

Thank you, Azhael. I can't wait to see them hatch....if I'm lucky enough to get that far. I was also wondering if there is a thread showing development of the eggs around here? Something I could use to see what they should look like along the way to help monitor their progress?

 

[Azhael]

There you go:
Caudata Culture Photo Series - Notophthalmus development

Best of lucks with them, the larvae are not difficult to raise if you are properly prepared (you know, live foods, etc..). The efts are a different story, and their first few months can be quite difficult, so make sure to read as much as you can to be prepared for that complicated phase. It´s a challenge, but a very rewarding one!

 

[deliriah]

Thank you!!! I'm gobbling up the information like crazy! I really appreciate all your help Azhael.

 

[otolith]

Congratulations on the eggs! Water quality and parents eating the eggs/larvae are probably the two biggest concerns. It sounds like you already have a handle on larval care, noto larvae are pretty small but microworms, bbs and daphnia are all good foods. You might be able to raise a few larvae with the adults, but some adults seem more prone to predation than others so removing the eggs to a separate established tank may be a safer bet if you can maintain good water quality. Good luck!

 

[deliriah]

Thank you Perry. Water quality is one of my bigger fears. So I am trying my best to take all necessary precautions. But I do appreciate any advice. Also I have been carefully removing every egg I find to a seperate tank to avoid predation. But I have to wonder if their are some I may have missed. I have a decent sized patch of their tank very heavily planted, (perhaps too heavily) so chances are their are some I may never see unless they manage to avoid hungry parents. I don't dare dig too far in to look for them, I'm afraid I'll muck up the whole tank and stress them all out. Again thanks to all of you for the great advice.

 

[Azhael]

No such thing as too heavily planted, believe me!
The eggs that are lost in that area will hatch (if the parents don´t find them) and you can pick up the larvae when you find them.

 

[merk199]

Try keeping the larvae in plastic shoeboxes. Cheap, easy to stack, etc...Live BBS, chopped blackworms, and white worms usually do the trick. Change 50% water daily min sucking out old leftover BBS. Every week to 2 weeks put larvae in a new shoe box and clean the other one with bleach. These are all things I do. I might be a little over the top but it has worked well for me.

Good luck!

 

[deliriah]

Again thank you guys so much. The eggs that I've removed from the tank appear to be developing well, and every day I'm finding another one or two.

 

[Ltdanicecream]

Congratulations! This is a hard species to keep and especially breed, and the fact that you did both is a sure reflection upon your skills at the husbandry of this species. Now, I know most keepers only choose to raise 20 or so larva, as I am with my Cynops o., so would you be interested in shipping eggs or larva if you had too many? I'd love to get a few CB Notos, cuz I never have any luck with the WC ones, and even those haven't been available at my local store. If you wanted to do a trade, I currently have 19 Cynops orientalis larva, and a few eggs in the tank, so if you want to sell/trade/donate, shoot me a PM please. Thanks a lot, and again, congratz!

 

[deliriah]

I have been avoiding this, because I am heartbroken, but here it is.
I was watching the eggs daily and about 3 weeks ago I finally had to admit to myself that they were no longer developing. I am still hoping (wishful thinking?) that I missed eggs in the adult tank and maybe they've hatched and are hiding well enough that even I haven't seen them. But as for the 10 or so I removed, I don't know what happened. They seemed to be doing fine, then they just stopped. They developed fuzzy mold and I knew it was over. Sorry guys. Maybe next year.

 

[merk199]

Methyl blue might help with the mold issue. It has helped me with mold.

 

[NightWolf]

Don't be hard on yourself, you have done an amazing job to encourage your Notos to breed, and there is always something you can learn from these kinds of situations. If, by any chance, you do end up with some larvae, since water quality is an issue, I would reccomend putting a small plate or bowl into the bottom of the tank, and then use this as your feeding area for your Noto larvae. This way, once the larvae are done eating from the bowl/plate that will hold whatever food you choose, you can simply remove it to discard the leftovers. Best of luck with you and your Notos!

 

[Ltdanicecream]

better luck next time with the eggs!