Pleurodeles pics.

[fishkeeper]

Went back home on Thanksgiving and checked up on the Pleurodeles. They've grown a lot! Fattening 6 females in hopes of eggs next season.
Here's some males(think I have 13 or so males). With those flat heads and huge tails sorta like little Andrias.

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

Nice looking newts! Pretty sweet looking coloration there. I see alot of lighter ones in pics around this site, kinda cool to see these. Any chance you have pics of the setup?

Thanks for sharing!

Mitch

 

[Mark]

You wont have trouble breeding them. The males look ready, with their dark nuptial pads on their arms. Cool them down a bit, keep them in the dark and feed them well. As it warms up increase the light. They require a suitable area for courtship, so don't forget to give the men a flat area of tank floor to spin the ladies. You'll be over run when the spring comes .

 

[Otterwoman]

They require a suitable area for courtship, so don't forget to give the men a flat area of tank floor to spin the ladies.

I never heard that. Are you serious, like a dance floor? How much space? Maybe that's why mine amplex and amplex for two years now and no eggs??? Are they notorious egg-eaters?

 

[Mark]

Yes, I'm serious. Amplexus is only the first phase of the courtship. The actual spermatophore transfer takes place after a fairly elaborate series of spins where the male grips the female with one arm, positions her face near his cloaca and spins in a circle. When the male feels he has her full attention and is happy with the turning circle he deposits a spermatophore and manoeuvres her over the top, stopping exactly when she's in position for pick up. As they're big newts this behaviour requires space. In my experience a male that doesn't have a clean turning circle is less likely to have success.

 

[Otterwoman]

I'm going to have to rearrange that tank. It has ornaments and rocks and hides in it, but it's a 40 gallon so I can fix it.

 

[Salmonella]

Great pics Fishkeeper! Awesome looking creatures. Thank you :happy:

Mark - the photo depicting the spinning aspect of the mating ritual is not only wonderful but such a valuable pictorial info source for the scientific community. Wow! (Interesting mating ritual - dancing - kinda like the Flamenco!)

 

[Otterwoman]

I made sure all my tanks had a dance floor. Why not, I'm sure their behaviors are similar.
But yes, Mark, that is a great picture, and good info.

 

[jelkins]

Very nice photos and information. This is certainly one of my favorite species to keep.

I recently had a female stop eating and waste away for some unknown reason, but this species is typically active and a voracious feeder.

It doesn't take much to coax these guys and gals into breeding. If I put males and females together I get eggs. I recently removed one of my younger more 'ambitious' males cause he wouldn't stop! Recently I placed a larger female in the same tank and the original female dropped eggs the other night! I'm certain of their sex and believe the females can store sperm for quite some time.

 

[fishkeeper]

Thanks guys! I think the darker color has something to do with them being in a preform tub outside where they do get some sun.

Interesting stuff Mark. I have the females in a sweaterbox that probably has the floorprint of a 20 gal tank(though doesn't hold that much water!). Was thinking when I get home to put a few males in with them and see if they feel ready.

Btw, at what age do they reach full size? They seem quite large to me, but are not quite a year old yet.(will be by next spring). I actually had a few males who basically looked like this(swollen arms, dark color, flattened tail) in August which would put them at I think 5-6 months when this occured.(they did amplex rarely at this age but of course nothing happened)

 

[fishkeeper]

Their has been much breeding behavior since dropping in several males but I have yet to see a successful spermatophore deposit/takeup...actually the females seem quite uncooperative and the other tankmates too inquisitive for much to happen.

I can't help but wonder if natural selection is selecting against those male newts who lack the ability to amplex females properly though! I have seen just about every possible mistake!(wrong legs, wrong direction, both, not a female, upside down, only one arm clasped etc...) The males seem to know they've made a mistake(they do not release an arm and attempt to do the circle dance) but seem to refuse to give up the hold on the female until distracted.

I've also seen what look like rejection behavior. Upon being touched or sniffed by a male one female(who had be left in the pond after all the rest were removed and thus likely got lots of attention) in particular would straighten her body and tightly press here arms and legs against her sides. Other tactics seemed to be not cooperating when the male attempts to spin, or imbibing too much air(intentional/unintentional?) so the pair ends up having trouble diving.

 

[fishkeeper]

The latest update from my Dad is.

"They are all very fat, but they don't hug eachother anymore" LMAO.

But seriously, I suppose they aren't quite old enough yet? Maybe need something extra to convince them?

 

[Mark]

Incorrect and down-right daft amplexus is all part of the show. If the males are willing they'll get it right eventually. Females are rarely co-operative. What's stopping you putting all the whole group together?

What temperature are they? How much light do they have?

How old are they? They'll breed at 9 - 10 months post morphing. At least the ones mine produce do.

 

[fishkeeper]

Whole group is together in a large sweaterbox(have whittled it down to 5 males and 7 females). Temps probably mid 60's. They are 09's and were hatched in early April if I remember correctly. Lighting is only room lighting...do you think I should artificially increase daylight hours?

On the other hand I was thinking of just putting them back into the tub pond for another few weeks and repeating the process of bringing them back in. Seems temp changes excite them. The idea was to get them to lay eggs in the winter and thus get a jump on the hot weather. Looks like that won't be working.

For larval rearing plans how many eggs might one expect from first year females? Do these guys exhibit lower fertility/hatching when young like some Triturus?