Restlessness in P. fuzhongensis

[chris]

Over the last two weeks all my Paramesotriton aff. fuzhongensis adults have started to get very restles - not very interested in food, pacing around etc. This is particularly true in the males. I can't remember whether this happened the last two years in the run-up to breeding activity. Do any other Para keepers experience this? Do they perhaps crawl out of the water at this time of the year in the wild?
Any other suggestions are very welcome
Chris

 

[alan]

Dunno, but there were frogs calling in my pond this afternoon. They clearly think it's Spring!

 

[danny]

Chris,
I posted about this a couple of weeks ago and I thought that it was just me. My 2 P. Hongkongensis males are showing similiar signs like yours. They do not eat very much, constantly wondering around the tank and actually coming out of the water to have a go on the cork bark island. Just yesterday I noticed my male has the faintest of a white line down the center of his tail and I caught him in the middle of the tank tail fanning. The female was hiding beneath him under a piece of slate. Just have to wait and see what developes from this.

 

[joan]

Alan, last herping outing I went on, there were lots of frogs calling. I think that since the days are about the same length, and the temperatures are about the same, the males think "hey, it's spring time!" and will call to no avail, since the females are not with eggs.

 

[benjamin]

I had simmilar behaviour over the summer, but do to a fault in the enclosure and my absence (I was on vacation), this constant wondering and climbing behaviour led to his escape. I do believe that fuzhongs breed in both fall and spring in the wild, so this would be no mistake on the male's part, please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[chris]

Ben
some Paramesotriton species breed in Spring (fuzhongensis is one), others in Autumn (such as hongkongensis). I find my fuzhongensis' breeding season starts late winter (about late feb) and ends about late March, early April.
The problem is that there are several forms which are designated to fuzhongensis. I have one male of a different form who comes into breeding condition about October...
good luck breeding yours
Chris

 

[benjamin]

Well My male is begginning to show breeding colours and today I caught him tail fanning, but it was very brief and he wasn't tail fanning anything, not even his reflection or an inanimate object, he just seemed to be doing it for the sake of it.