Triturus Dobrogicus going aquatic

[terry]

I decided to post a picture I took last night of my male dobro which has gone aquatic. His crest is developing. After some shots he deposited a spermatophore for the female but she did not noticed it. It was frustrating trying to snap a photo of the spermatophore because of the glass so I instead offer you all the male who made it. Enjoy!

I have the impression that crest is getting higher by the day!

Regards Terry

 

[terry]

Here is a more mundane and general view of the male and his developing crest. This picture is taken earlier than the previous shot.

 

[joan]

Crested newts are definately the most interesting to watch going into breeding season. Your male has a belly like liquid gold, it's awesome

 

[terry]

Hey Joan!

Thanks yes i must agree i am pretty happy with this male i obtained from the original breeder who introduced T dobrogicus into the Netherlands( or am I mistaken) Sergé or someone else would know whom I mean (Harry).

This male in particular is F1 or the first generation. I sure hope his crest would develop into an impressive on. Then again who knows?

I most certainly agree with you about the changes that crested newts undertake when they enter their breeding mode. Its truly an awesome and spectacular thing to behold. I was considering calling this male "Shimmering Flame" for obvious reasons!

Greetings,
Terry

 

[terry]

Ok I posted earlier today that one of my marbled newts was laying her eggs. This evening however I received another surprise. I caught my female Triturus dobrogicus doing something all too familiar that any Triturus breeder would agree with me.

She decided to fold a leaf with her legs and deposit her first egg.

 

[terry]

Moderators,
Could you please move this thread to the Eurasian Newts section as I might post more follow ups in regards to this breeding pair.
Many Thanks.

 

[terry]

Just a small update on the crest of the male dobrogicus. His colours are simply fantastic. Truly a Golden aquatic dragon!

 

[sian]

Wow. Gorgeous is all I can say!

 

[terry]

Hello folks!

It seems that the male and female triturus dobrogicus have not concluded their mating season as of yet! and this time I managed to make a series of photos (albeit hurriedly) and managed to photograph the courtship from beginning to end!

HEre the male is arching his back like a cat and fanning his tail rhythmicly and the female has gained interest. The sniffing session was before this.

The male continues to waft scents to the female and she is following him.

The female is tailing the male right after he has done one or two abrupt whips with his tail and begins to lead the female across the tank.

The male deposits a spermatophore while the female sniffs his cloaca

The female, following the stripe of his tail seems distracted as she moves over the spermatophore (not seen here due to glare)

The result of this succesful courtship. The female picks up the spermatophore with her cloaca. The courtship is complete.

Last shot. Courtship and fertilisation completed. The Male continues fanning. The younger female in the background backs away.
after these shots have been taken, the Male has begun courtship with the second female but she paid him no heed. I hope you enjoyed the photos. Sorry for the bad quality as everything was hurriedly done and I had not time to set up my photography equipment properly.

I guess she will be laying again!

Terry

 

[andy]

Excellent series of photographs Terry, keep us posted!

 

[rubén]

Simply fantastic Terry

 

[terry]

Thanks Rubén and Andy!
Rubén, you can expect some CB 2006 soon since this is the second mating

*hint hint*.
I'll keep you posted via email!
Regards Terry.

 

[rubén]

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[terry]

Moderator:
Thank you for moving my thread! To show my appreciation:

Thanks once more!
Terry

 

[joseph]

Wow! To say the least this is a very impressive set of photos...and also the newts are very beautiful in breeding garb. How old is this male? I've never been able to see a successful courtship yet.

 

[terry]

Hello Joseph,

The male has just begun donning his breeding garb. He still is growing his crest. This male is an F1 (first generation animal) I obtained and it is quite old. Though what the exact age is I do not know. I'll have to contact the breeder for that information.

 

[terry]

I was trying to set up some photos last night but the page kept crashing on me so I'm trying again.
I took a series of photographs of the male performing the tail whip segment of his courtship. This sequence could precede the actual courtship itself:

(Message edited by terryschild on October 23, 2005)

 

[ester]

The more pictures you take, the more it looks like a dragon! Very beautiful animals!

 

[terry]

A small update:
The female has been observed as being aggressive towards other females of her species and after courting she even arches her back and poses against the male. Please anyone, is this behaviour of aggression from females within the Triturus species ever documented?

I am reposting two pics:

female aggression towards another female.

This picture does not do much justice to the topic at hand but the best i could describe from this picture is that it happened after the courting and the female began to inflate her throat and opened it and delivered a whip of her tail and the male flinched. Resulting in this photo.

 

[terry]

Hello folks,
Last night I managed to capture yet another moment with my T. dobrogicus group. The female is busy once more.

Here is a close-up:

If this goes on I'll need a bigger spawning tank for the eggs