The Torosa family?

tyzoone said:
Thanks Seth for the feeding advice! I hope I haven't caused any damage!…. And slow foot that is also good direction. The tanks as I bought them came without lids but I may be able to throw together a screen top or something. Also, I've got a toddler at home who is figuring out how to destroy things so it probably ain't a bad idea! Thanks guys! I'll keep posting pics of the progress.
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Keeping toddlers out is as important as keeping the newts in, don't forget how poisonous salamanders are! A Taricha/toddler situation could easily be fatal to either party.
 
Thanks slowdog, ll definitely try to manufacture some kind of lid as the cages didnt come with any.... any tip or advice? Im thinking a screen top of some kind should do...
 
Mesh lids are probably best and easiest to make. I normally make a lightweight wooden frame then just stretch some mesh fabric over it and staple gun it round the edges. You can use self adhesive velcro, or similar to keep it in place.
 
hey Guys, my t grans are showing breeding behavior and I was wondering how seriously I should take it. Meaning is this a formality or could something really come of it? How long will they do this for? I was worried about them drowning but quickly noticed that they would both swim up for air at different times while still attached. Does anyone know what to look for as far as eggs go if things do work out? I have a rather large tank and am worried about losing or missing them....

Here are some photos and a video will be uploaded to youtube shortly!


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also thanks for the tip on the lids chinadog. Hoping to take time for this project this weekend!
 
At this point, I wouldn't take it too seriously. The males of this species are known to amplex just about anything, ( fish, filter intake tubes....). I have had some of mine be in amplexus for days, and the female didn't lay. Also, drowning shouldn't be much of a concern, they will surface for air regularly, and can stay down for hours. Eggs are usually laid on aquatic plant leaves. They are pretty small, so look closely. If you see any eggs, pull them out immediately, as adults are known to eat eggs.

But like I said, at this point I wouldn't take it too seriously, I have had tons of amplexus in the past, with now eggs resulting. And that is with all the cooling, lighting, and water depth efforts. -Seth
 
T. granulosa (and the whole genus in general) males will amplex almost anything throughout the year. It might result in eggs, it might not. If your pair have not seen your pair in amplexus before it could be a promising step! It could take a few weeks before you see any laying behavior.

You will probably see the female practice egg laying before the eggs come. She will hold on to plants with her rear legs and gently press them together. Eggs are pretty large and should be easy to spot. Taricha larvae are pretty large when they hatch and are quite hardy, if you get fertile eggs (fingers crossed for you) they are some of the easiest to raise. My rivularis could feed on chopped blackworms almost immediately after hatching.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I haven't seen the male amplexing anything prior to this but I have only had them for about a month. I don't know when they started but they did it for several hours after I had noticed them. I'd love to try out the larvae stage and raising some little tgran pups! These two have a lot of character and are a lots of fun!
 
Eggs are pretty large and should be easy to spot.
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I suppose it depends on what you consider large, but in this case your description is probably better than mine as you have seen more newt eggs.
I would say they are about the size of the end of a pencil eraser ( the visible part ). Though I have only seen two dozen or so, so I may have had a poor sampling.
 
Very cool! I keep T.grans as well and they are all over the place. I have 7 adults (3 males, 4 females) and I got 8 hatches out to larval form this year. 3 of those made it to full morph. Just collected a batch of this years wild juveniles from the same spot I got my adult pairs from a while back. So I now have 13 total. I've noticed my adult males dominate the aquatic environment while the young and females tend to hang out the canopy of epiphytic ferns I have growing up an old log. Best of luck to you, I love mine :)
 
It wouldn't be the first time someone new to an awkward species has had them breed right out the box. Maybe they were already primed when they were collected? Having said that, all Taricha in breeding mode I've seen have had better developed tail fins, especially males.
Either way, al least you know they're happy with their tank.
 
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Let me know if that link worked for you guys as I'm getting weird results with it. Also, I've noticed an odd film that goes over the top of the water in this tank. I've tested all my levels and done regular water changes and everything seems fine. Is it normal to have this floating on the top of the water? Should I be concerned?
 
The link isn't a link for me at all, it is just the video posted directly to your post.

I have no idea about the film. I had it a bit at one point too, and it didn't seem to cause a problem for me.
 
So this weekend I was planning to make a lid I promise.... However when I got home tonight I found that the male had escaped! I'm currently in the middle of turning this basement upside down! If anyone has any tips on finding lost newts, I'm ALL ears.... Hope he's alright.
 
So good news. I found the little guy covered in dust and lint in the corner of my studio. He is clearly dehydrated so I immediately put him in the water and fed him a worm. Is there anything else I can do to help the little guy?
 
Hey guys,

Here is the tank WITH a lid and some more photos. These guys are fun to watch/take photos of because they have more character than you'd expect from newts. Also I wouldn't have really noticed if I hadn't been taking frequent photos but the texture of there skin and shapes of their tails have changes a lot since I first got them a few months ago. The male has been doing very well and all the dust and mess has been cleaned away from his skin since the great escape. I'm pretty sure I found him just in time....Also I've read that when the male goes into breeding mode he'll develop pads on his toes and his tail will fan out. Do you guys notice these from the photos? He has been amplexing the lil lady every other day or so for a few weeks for anywhere from 30 minutes to and hour long intervals.

I know the chances are slim but is there any photos of T. Gran eggs on this forum just so I know what to look for if I get real lucky?


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These newts really are full of character! That's one of the reasons they are my favorite.

The texture of their skin will change when they are more aquatic to a less rough texture. I cant see any nuptial pads on the male. Their tales look pretty normal to me, maybe a little bit wider, but not a lot.
I will attach a picture of a T. granulosa egg. And a male T. granulosa in full breeding dress for comparison.
http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/images/tgranulosaeggwl04.jpg
http://www.caudata.org/cc/images/species/Taricha/T_granulosa3WEI.jpg ( male on top) -Seth
 
Hi,
You can see the nuptial pads in the attached picture.
Your newts are definitly not in breeding dress. Besides develloping the nuptial pads the skin of the male changes and feels a little slimy. The cloaca gets much bigger than in your pictures. I don't think you can expect any eggs now. But I agree, those newts are fascinating, very interested in what's going on outside there aquarium.
Greetz
Fabian
 

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sde said:
These newts really are full of character! That's one of the reasons they are my favorite.

The texture of their skin will change when they are more aquatic to a less rough texture. I cant see any nuptial pads on the male. Their tales look pretty normal to me, maybe a little bit wider, but not a lot.
I will attach a picture of a T. granulosa egg. And a male T. granulosa in full breeding dress for comparison.
http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/images/tgranulosaeggwl04.jpg
http://www.caudata.org/cc/images/species/Taricha/T_granulosa3WEI.jpg ( male on top) -Seth
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I'm no expert on Taricha Seth, but those newts in the link look a lot like T. rivularis to me, how do you tell them apart?
 
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  • Katia Del Rio-Tsonis:
    Dear All, I would appreciate some help identifying P. waltl disease and treatment. We received newts from Europe early November and a few maybe 3/70 had what it looked like lesions under the legs- at that time we thought maybe it was the stress of travel- now we think they probably had "red leg syndrome" (see picture). However a few weeks later other newts started to develop skin lesions (picture enclosed). The sender recommended to use sulfamerazine and we have treated them 2x and we are not sure they are all recovering. Does anyone have any experience with P. waltl diseases and could give some input on this? Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
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  • Katia Del Rio-Tsonis:
    sorry I am having a hard time trying to upload the pictures- I have them saved on my hard drive... any suggestions-the prompts here are not allowing for downloads that way as far as I can tell. Thanks
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    Katia Del Rio-Tsonis: sorry I am having a hard time trying to upload the pictures- I have them saved on my hard... +1
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