Question: Raising Spanish Ribbed Newts larvae

[achiinto]

My group of SRNs have laid some eggs. A lot.... , anyway, I separated the eggs and noticed that some eggs hatched really fast. The larvae are very tiny. In comparison to newly hatched CO, the SRN larvae seems small. Is this normal?

Anyone has experience raising SRN larvae? Do you know any link that have specific details?

 

[donia]

Hey! I've just gotten some eggs from my lot - how long did yours take to hatch?

Good luck with raising them! Please post pics too!

 

[achiinto]

Hey! I've just gotten some eggs from my lot - how long did yours take to hatch?

Good luck with raising them! Please post pics too!

Well. I picked mine up and quarantined them a few days ago. Now they already hatched a good number of them. I read from some books that it took only 1 to 2 weeks for the eggs to hatch.

They hatched out small. So I guess they want to take advantages of mobility after hatching. Then they will rely on the egg yolk on their belly to grow a bit bigger and then start feeding on small crustaceans... I am surprised that they hatch out so small while the adults are so huge...

Good luck with yours as well.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Just be forewarned that this species is very cannablistic as larvae, even if well fed. I would either advise you to seperate them into as many smaller groups as possible or just accept the losses (which given the amount of eggs they lay may not be a bad thing).

You'll want to raise them at a temperature as close to 70F as possible cause I read somewhere but for the life of me can't remember where but that females would undergo a sex reversal at a higher temp.

 

[Jake]

Just be forewarned that this species is very cannablistic as larvae, even if well fed. I would either advise you to seperate them into as many smaller groups as possible or just accept the losses (which given the amount of eggs they lay may not be a bad thing).

You'll want to raise them at a temperature as close to 70F as possible cause I read somewhere but for the life of me can't remember where but that females would undergo a sex reversal at a higher temp.

I think you may have read it here: Caudata Culture Species Entry - Pleurodeles waltl in the breeding/rearing section.

While it's true the larvae are cannibals, I've had success raising a large group of them up to about 1.5 inch in the same tank (separated by size after that). I think thick vegetation for cover and plenty of food is the key. There will always be a number of weaklings in the batch and it's best to let them get eaten, the strong survive and the weaklings are most likely to have issues later on.

 

[achiinto]

Jake, do you know if SRN larvae have to go through the terrestrial morph stage? Is it possible to by pass it like the many successful cases with Cynops?

The newly hatched larvae are only 3 mm to 4mm in length, is this normal?

Thanks

 

[Azhael]

This species skips the terrestrial stage in captivity, and in fact in the wild it´s very common that they do too. The youngster venture on land if the water of their breeding pool disappears and such things.

 

[achiinto]

This species skips the terrestrial stage in captivity, and in fact in the wild it´s very common that they do too. The youngster venture on land if the water of their breeding pool disappears and such things.

Wow... that make breeding them relatively easier.