P. caudopunctatus morphs

J

j.

Guest
Hello,

Does anyone have experience raising P. caudopunctatus? I have heard conflicting information about ideal temperature. Mine are about 2 and 3 weeks old, and seem to be okay, but they're not eating as well as I'd like to see.

Thanks,
Jessica
 
I don't have any personal experience raising Paramesotriton. However, as a genus, they have a reputation for being difficult juveniles to raise. Hopefully some folks with more experience than I can give you some tips.
 
Craig Cameron raised a lot of these, I heard. Personally I don't have any experience in raising P. caudopunctatus. I am currently raising batches of metamorphs/juveniles from egglayings of animals that I believe are P. fuzhongensis and P. hongkongensis. I keep these at room temperature. None of the animals I raise, feed as eagerly as the common species of Cynops would and they usually hide in their setup. The terrestrial setups consist of an open pored clay substrate on the bottom (as water reservoir), several layers of cork bark and lots of moss on top (replaced with fresh moss from the woods regularly). I feed them collemboles and white worms, but only seldomly see them feed. With this type of setup you have to check the moss thoroughly before removing though. I try to keep up a high air humidity by putting a cover on top of the tanks respectively using small starter-greenhouses. The setups are not dripping wet though and areas of different moisture and relatively dry places seem to be important. I heard that Nate successfully raised P. chinensis on paper towels.
Another experienced Paramesotriton breeder from Belgium even keeps his offspring animals singly and handfeeds them. Juraj succeeded in handfeeding his older P. hongkongensis juveniles with pieces of earthworms. They even leave the moss to feed from tweezers.
So there seems to be more than one method to raise them and maybe some luck involved also. No sure-fire solution I am afraid.
biggrin.gif

Hope this helps and please keep us updated. By the way, in what kind of setup and how did the animals deposit the eggs?

Ralf
 
Thanks Ralf and Jennifer,

I have them on paper towels, where the tank is slightly sloped so that one side is wetter than the other. I think I'll try to raise the temperature to around 70F, and cover 3/4 of the tank to retain humidity.

I recieved them as morphs, so I can't say how the eggs were deposited.

Jessica
 
Hi Ralf,

I have to say that I failed with raising my morphs. They are in a good condition, eat well, but they seem they have stopped their growing at 6.5 cm. I don`t know what`s the problem. Maybe they metamorph too small. I`ve been raising them since October 02 and they hardly double during 15 months even though they `ve been very good eaters all along.
Jessica good luck anyway.
 
Hi Juraj,
I wouldn't call this a failure. They grow quite slowly. Everything should be okay as long as they feed eagerly. Some things you might want to try, however (in either combination), if you haven't already considered it:
1. Reduce animal density in the tank (transfer them to several setups),
2. Slightly raise temperature in tank,
3. offer a shallow water dish and see if single animals already take to the water,
4. Provide "rough" surfaces that might aid skin-shedding.

Good luck and keep us updated.

Ralf


(Message edited by ralf on January 08, 2004)
 
Hi everyone, well yes I have raised around 300 this year, way to many, but I only have around 40 left so I have found homes for many. Jessica they are best kept as aquatic juveniles in my experience unlike P.chinensis, hongkongensis, and fuzhongensis which all prefer being raised in a more terrestrial method for at least a year or two . I keep mine after they have morphed for 1 month on land(terrestrial set up) then I reintroduce them to an aquatic enclosure with elodea spp., large river stone and gravel substrate and flat pieces of limestone rocks for hiding locals. I allow one or two of the limestone pieces to break the surface of the water. They are best kept at around 15-20 deg C ( 60-72F). Once they return to the water they will grow very quickly feeding on live blackworms and chopped small earthworms. They will survive in moist leaf litter set-up by I have found they grow much more slowly and are more difficult to raise by this method.Jessica if you got the juveniles from EK then they are mine and the eggs were laid underneath flat pieces of limestone where their mother guarded them until around hatching time, intersting also is that my females for the most part refuse to eat while guarding the eggs much like my pachytriton females...an adaptation probably so as not too consume the eggs. Ralf I am very curious of what your observations have been with raising your fuzhongensis...mine seem to be very similar in behaviour as juveniles to my chinensis.
P.S. Jessica how are the T.verrucosus doing?
Craig
 
Thanks again everyone. I did notice that they seem to prefer the wetter areas, and even submerge themselves in the pool that has collected on one side of the tank. I was afraid they would perish in a semi-aquatic setup, but I think I will try that.

Craig, the verrucosus are doing great, thanks. Two males tail fan all the time, but the females usually respond with biting or swimming off quickly, and no eggs yet. I'm hoping a raise in temperature in a few weeks will entice the females to breed.

Jessica
 
The semi aquatic setup has seemingly done wonders for my little guys. I put them in yesterday, and they all took to the water immediately, and stayed there all day (and probably all night). They're actively chasing anything that moves, and seem perfectly content fully sumberged. The temperature is around 72F in the water, and 1/2 the screen lid is covered to retain humidity.

Jessica
 
Craig
How did you breed the caudos (temp changes, feeding, setup etc.)
Chris
 
Hi Ralf,
I have changed their setup. Now it`s semi-aqatic with main of water part and small lands. Water level is about 8 cm, temperature is 13-15 °C. The smaller ones prefer stay in water :
11148.jpg

and the biggers are almost terrestrial.
11149.jpg
 
Hi Juraj, this looks quite promising. Why such low water temperatures?

Ralf
 
Hi Ralf,
thank You very much for the advice. Temperatures are such low because I thought i`ts better. I`ll raise them a little.
Btw, I`ve read very interesting article about second c.b. generation P. deloustali yesterday.
Juvies can reach 11 -12 cm during 4 years, matures at the age of 6-8 years and about 15 cm of the length. I think this would be significant for the other species of this genus too.
 
Hi Chris, my P.caudopunctatus are kept in a large aquaria, with river gravel of various sizes and flat pieces of limestone rocks piled to form many caves. The temperature varies from around 5 degC in winter to 18 deg C in summer. I have all my lighting for my caudates on timers with lights coming on an hour after sunrise and going of an hour before sunset. There are windows in my caudate room so this allows natural northern temperate photoperiod with gradual brightness to darkness. No sudden lights on and off. They are breeding right now again and lay their eggs underneath flat pieces of stone. They will breed for about two months, where in my experience the larvae hatch after several weeks and transform after 5-8months in water temperatures of 10-15deg C. Let me know if you have any questions.
Craig
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top