Successful Breeding of Ambystoma Opacum!!!

[SalamanderNick]

Hey everyone!! Pretty excited over here! Ive had my group for almost 3 years now! Last season the males were courting the females aggressively but i never found any eggs
but I was able to successfully breed my group of marbled salamanders this year! I found the little surprises on the 23rd of this month. She laid around 50-75 perfect eggs!! I put the eggs in 6qt bins filled with java and oak leaves for water quality. The eggs have been hatching consistently since the 23rd, some hatched within a few hours while some hatched several days later! I've heard of some people getting them started on live brine shrimp, but these little guys seem big enough to eat whiteworms or cut up blackworms!

 

[SalamanderNick]

Female nesting on eggs

 

[Tim Nospondyl]

Congratulations, any captive reproduction of terrestrial Ambystoma is worth a victory lap. Given your experience, on a scale of 1-10, 1 being rice paper delicate and 10 being Brickhouse, how hardy are the opacum?

 

[SalamanderNick]

This is my first time breeding any ambystoma species. But I would say they are like a 7 on the hardy scale!!! They seem to tolerate bigger prey items, water quality and temperature pretty well! I keep them around 53-60° atm depending on the temperature of my amphibian room. All have eaten and almost doubled in size since they've hatched about a week ago

 

[Creekratt]

Hey everyone!! Pretty excited over here! Ive had my group for almost 3 years now! Last season the males were courting the females aggressively but i never found any eggs
but I was able to successfully breed my group of marbled salamanders this year! I found the little surprises on the 23rd of this month. She laid around 50-75 perfect eggs!! I put the eggs in 6qt bins filled with java and oak leaves for water quality. The eggs have been hatching consistently since the 23rd, some hatched within a few hours while some hatched several days later! I've heard of some people getting them started on live brine shrimp, but these little guys seem big enough to eat whiteworms or cut up blackworms!

Hey man congrats! I was advised here in MI. not to breed these. Hoping to make it possible some day.

 

[SalamanderNick]

Hey man congrats! I was advised here in MI. not to breed these. Hoping to make it possible some day.

Thanks!!! Whys that? Laws dont allow it? I have to have certain native herpticulture permits that allow me to do it!

 

[Creekratt]

Thanks!!! Whys that? Laws dont allow it? I have to have certain native herpticulture permits that allow it. MI is funny. When you get a fish license. It states that you can take said animals with limits in season. However, it must be for scientific collection only, but doesn't say so. I contacted Tom Goinea from MDNR and he advised me that I can keep opacum, but don't breed them. "We monitor Craigslist and others and if the numbers don't match your receipt" So pretty sure I'm on his watch list? The ? is why would I have called and basically tell on myself? So I'm gonna encourage other Michiganders to make it possible. The good side here is at least I can keep opacum. Opacum is just about extripated from MI that may play into not bring able to breed them? Not sure though because I can keep non threatened sp. but can't breed those either. PA allows permits like you mentioned. Hopefully MI can follow IL and PA lead??

 

[SalamanderNick]

Ahhh I see! IL is weird too, you can keep 4 of certain natives but can't breed or sell them. The only way to breed and sell them is to get the herpticulture permit from here then they have to come from out of state and prove they came from out of state. Then you have to follow all the guidelines with selling them ect

 

[Creekratt]

Ahhh I see! IL is weird too, you can keep 4 of certain natives but can't breed or sell them. The only way to breed and sell them is to get the herpticulture permit from here then they have to come from out of state and prove they came from out of state. Then you have to follow all the guidelines with selling them ect

Looking forward to acquiring a small group. Maybe from you or from user name Frank Beard on this site.

 

[SalamanderNick]

Awesome!! Good luck!! I'll most likely post up on here when and if I let some go when theyre ready!

 

[frank beard]

How are the larvae doing?

Mine are extremely hardy. I know some have been eaten by their siblings. The hardest thing is constantly sorting them by size to avoid cannibalism! I have been pleased to find that they readily eat pellets around the time they have reasonably sized hind limbs. Lots of other species are beginning to deposit eggs so space is going to be at a premium before too long.

 

[SalamanderNick]

How are the larvae doing?

Mine are extremely hardy. I know some have been eaten by their siblings. The hardest thing is constantly sorting them by size to avoid cannibalism! I have been pleased to find that they readily eat pellets around the time they have reasonably sized hind limbs. Lots of other species are beginning to deposit eggs so space is going to be at a premium before too long.

Theyre doing great!! I keep them all in a 28 qt bin. They are very hardy and eat just about everything I've offered! Theyre just about to sprout back legs finally a little after a month. But I've noticed I haven't seen any cannibalize on each other but I try and keep them well fed as possible lol

 

[Ponds End]

Will you be selling any of the ones you bred this year? I imagine keeping 50-75 salamanders is quite the challenge

 

[SalamanderNick]

Yep!! I plan on posting them when they're good and ready! It sure will be alot of mouths to feed

 

[SalamanderNick]

Larvae have grown exponentially! Not picky eaters either will eat just about anything alive or dead lol.

 

[frank beard]

What are some of the dead things you have been feeding. Some of mine are really large but it would be nice to identify some additional things that are easy to get a hold of for the smaller ones. The big ones eat salmon pellets no problem but the some of the little ones seem to be pickier and have about depleted my whiteworm cultures.

 

[Creekratt]

What are some of the dead things you have been feeding. Some of mine are really large but it would be nice to identify some additional things that are easy to get a hold of for the smaller ones. The big ones eat salmon pellets no problem but the some of the little ones seem to be pickier and have about depleted my whiteworm cultures.

Have you tried chopped worms?

 

[frank beard]

Yes, they will really go for chopped worms. However, I can't keep up with my need for worms. I collect them in my garden and I culture European nightcrawlers and I still use every single one I can get my hands on and there definitely aren't enough to feed a couple hundred opacum larvae. The main thing I am feeding the opacum larvae are small salmon pellet crumbles -those I are available in amounts that I can't exceed a need for. There are tons of larvae from other species about to hatch to put even more pressure on my worm resources too!

 

[SalamanderNick]

We finally almost got a morpher!!! Should be anytime now!!

 

[SalamanderNick]

Only around 20 left to morph out, total count was 78 all together!!