When do you first let youngsters breed?

[slowfoot]

Young newts, I mean

I have two young female N. viridescens (~3 years old) who just recently went into the water. They've been laying unfertilized eggs for the last few days and look ready to breed. Here's a fabulous video of the two:

young newts - YouTube

But, they're my babies I don't want them getting hurt because of an aggressive male. On the other hand, they've been doing this for a long (evolutionary) time, so they probably know what they're doing. So how long do you wait before letting your young newts breed?

 

[SludgeMunkey]

No need to worry. Nature does its own thing. Have you read the relevant articles here on the forums and on Caudata Culture?

 

[EasternNewtLove]

Out of curiousity, what do you feed them to keep them having the beautiful red color?

 

[nwmnnaturalist]

My personal opinion would be to try and prevent breeding as much as possible until they're of a more 'mature' age, so that they are healthier and bigger. I feel it wouldn't be as much of a strain on their bodies to breed then. I've personally never done it, but that's just my feeling.

 

[slowfoot]

I've read the articles (at least, I think I have), I was just wondering what other people did They've only just started really swimming instead of walking around in the water like efts, so I was a little worried they'd be overwhelmed. I think I'll wait until next year's season to put them with a male.

EasternNewtLove: I just feed frozen bloodworms and earthworms (they also eat a lot of snails), so it's coming from one of those.

 

[EasternNewtLove]

Oh ok, thanks! I really want mine to be red again! are they like... Small snails? And personally, I wouldnt allow them to breed unless the male is the same size as they are. Injuries could occur otherwise.

 

[Molch]

My personal opinion would be to try and prevent breeding as much as possible until they're of a more 'mature' age, so that they are healthier and bigger. I feel it wouldn't be as much of a strain on their bodies to breed then. I've personally never done it, but that's just my feeling.

interesting thought...I know that this is generally held true for mammals, such as dogs, horses, muskoxen etc. But I have no idea how it works for amphibians. The physiological investment into reproduction is probably less for amphibians. If they are in good condition and able to produce eggs, I guess they might as well lay them.

 

[slowfoot]

Yeah, I wasn't worried so much about the egg-laying - these ladies are very well fed - but more about courtship, which can be pretty rough.