Breeding tylototriton

hi all,
first i would like to appologize if my english is bad,
recently i had the opportunity to obtain 10 t.verrucossus ( i guess, heck i don't even know how to differ them from t.shanjing ). i put them in a paludarium ( 2/3 water, but with lots of log to climb ), and 6 of them immediately became aquatic, after mostly terrestrial in the previous enclosure. i feed them frozen bloodworm, while i don't know how to feed the other 4, as they seemed to be the laziest newt i've ever seen. i think my newts is ready to breed because i often saw the males doing that tail waving, and even one male emmited spermatophore during that tail waving, although i observe that the females is mostly stay on the land part. the problem is that my tank temp is on 26C, as i live in Indonesia. can i breed them at that temp? and what should i feed that terrestrial newts? any comment or advice is greatly welcome,
regards

Hi Johannes, Your English is fine. John Clare has written in his care sheet (under Caudata Culture) that he had success breeding them when he brings them from a temperature of 16C to 22-25C so your temps are a little warm to start with. According to John's article the temperature change can occur rather quickly. You might want to consider putting in a bunch of ice bottles to lower the temp and keep adding bottles for a day or two and then stop adding bottles and let the temps rise as they melt. This might stimulate them, if you have any females in the water. As for feeding the land based, when mine spend time on land, which isn't often, they eat crickets, chopped nightcrawlers and waxworms. Mine bred when I wasn't really planning on it because of mild temp changes and changing patterns of light. I had planned on breeding them mid Summer, but got a pleasant surprise an they bred on their own this Spring. Good luck with them and keep us up to date.

(Message edited by dln on August 13, 2004)

thanks for the info, as it's almost imposible for me to keep the temp that low on around 22C, i only able to put some ice block on their tank everyday, my questions is how long will they live on that temp ( around 25C-27C )? i feed them almost on daily basis as they seems to never refuse food ( in fact, it seems that they always searching for food ), and will they eventually adapt to that kind of temp?
regards

I can't honestly say Johannes. They are probably eating daily because of the higher temps and increased activities. At lower temps they eat less. I don't think they can adapt to higher temps and may not be a good fit for you.

[Tim Johnson]

Is 26C the air temperature or water temperature? In addition to adding ice bottles, you may be able to lower the water temperature by a couple degrees by setting a small fan to blow across the water surface, but this is also not a permanent solution to your problem

hi,
the 26C is the water temp, sometimes it's exceeded to 28C, i know it's not the right way to keep newts, but i couldn't resist it, besides, i think they are happier staying with me than spend countless hours in a jar in my LFS, maybe i will install a AC in my room in near future
regards

[ksc133]

hi johannes,

do you still have tylototriton.V ?

which part of indonesia do you stay?

thanks

Originally Posted by johannes

hi,
the 26C is the water temp, sometimes it's exceeded to 28C, i know it's not the right way to keep newts, but i couldn't resist it, besides, i think they are happier staying with me than spend countless hours in a jar in my LFS, maybe i will install a AC in my room in near future
regards

[Rodrigo]

This is a thread from 2004....you can´t really expect an answer. Please don´t bump up old threads....