What To Do With Newt Eggs?

[Che]

My kids came in with a mason jar full of "frog spawn" the other day after playing in the woods on our property. We had had heavy rain and they'd found the eggs in a small pool of rain water that had collected in a low area. After a few days I realized that what we had was not frog spawn at all, but rather salamander, or newt eggs! They seem to be developing quite well in a big bowl of water from the pool in which they were found.

Here's my problem: I have no idea what to do with these guys (the eggs, not my kids ) - I am almost certain that they are Red Spotted Newt eggs, because we have seen many of them in the area the spawn was found. As soon as the weather warms up (in a few weeks - we are in VA), that pool of water will be gone, so I feel like putting them back in there will mean certain death.

It seems that taking care of these babies is a lot more complicated than tadpoles though! Part of me would really like to keep a couple until they're terrestrial and then release them back into the woods, but I don't know what they need to thrive in captivity in the mean time?

Can anyone point me to some good reading on hatching and keeping larvae? Or perhaps give me some tips on a set up?

Thanks!

* I've added images of the spawn when we collected it and what we have now (although it's kind of cloudy and hard to see)

 

[AuSu]

Hi!
You could find some advice on caudata culture pages, here's a link for species site where you can easily continue to the right species.
Just a crazy idea, but could you perhaps dig the nature pool a bit deeper and add some aged water there time to time while the babies are growing? That way they'd stay on their natural habitat with food items and you'd only have to worry about the water. If your area is really hot, then this is probably not possible if it dries really quickly.

 

[AuSu]

https://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Salamandridae.shtml#Notophthalmus
I try again..

 

[Herpin Man]

Amphibians generally breed in the same bodies of water year after year. My first response is to advise you to put them back where they came from, because the sallys knew what they were doing when they laid them there.
But, if it really isn't a viable body of water, then surely there must be another nearby that is better.

 

[Che]

Thanks for the suggestions. I went out to check on the little pool that they came from yesterday and it is about 1/3 of the size it was. Temps are still around mid 40's, so I don't imagine it could last once the weather warms up. I am definitely considering creating a permanent little pond in that spot though. I just need to figure out how to do it without causing too much upset to the local ecology.

I've got the eggs/larvae (don't know what to call them at this point) in a tank right now. They have developed little exterior gills and we're enjoying watching them grow and learning more about these interesting little creatures. I'm currently scouting out a source for food for them once they hatch though (there doesn't seem to be anything living in the pool that they come from). I plan to put them back before they become terrestrial (hopefully into our future pond, so we can continue to watch them grow and change).

Thanks again for the help.