Nice to see a Japanese breeder and keeper Mamisan , as you know I am somebody with a large interest in keeping and breeding Hynobius and Ambystoma ...
Regarding A. mavortium the actual keeping and breeding is quite simple. I keep the adults in a large wodden box filled with forrest litter and stumbs of rotten wood and moss (like a bottom of a forrest floor) and feed them mainly with worms and slugs. They overwinter in my garden house at temperatures between 0 and 5°C (some weeks or even months) in a more or less dark setup. Then when the first spring sunlight peaks around I put them in a large tank with rocks and water (no landarea) and approx 20 to 40 cm of water. Sometimes first the males , then the much thicker females. In the water I have various floating waterweeds and even some twigs. The animals lay their little eggs on the rocks, twigs and plants (the eggs are so little that they are difficult to see) more or less like axolotls. At this moment I am looking if the eggs are fertilised (I'm not 100% sure yet).
So , and this will nog be a surprise, a good breeding is influenced by temperature, increase in light and humidity / water. Also the animals need to be in good breeding condition, which can be obtained by keeping them cool during the fall and winter while continuing to feed them. In this way they can store the supplements and can later re-use them in the energy consuming reproduction process...
In nature reproduction starts with the fall of rains. In captivity this can be simulated by either spraying water in the tank (the soft touch) or by putting the animals directly into the water (the hard way). I only use the hard ay for robust animals. For (pond type) Hynobius this way of working also prooves to work . I have used it so far with good success in several Ambystoma and Hynobius species of which I have valid breeding groups. I hope to extend some of my Ambystoma groups in the coming season since it mainly contains 1 or 2 animals of some species (texanum, jefferonianum, maculatum, gracile). It's not going to be easy but I will at least try to get some.
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