Paramesotriton chinensis eggs

[Otterwoman]

Here's a pic of one of the "co" larvae from the top.

Well, if it's a paramesotriton, then yay! They bred for me. I wonder what happened to my co babies. I wonder how I got the tanks mixed up. I wonder if the rest of the larvae are one or both or mixed. I guess time will tell!
Boy, I have to get less careless with my methods.

[Rodrigo]

I think that one is P.chinensis too.
If you could take a side view picture, it would be better. I personally have no doubt, but it´s always best to be able to tell for sure.

[Otterwoman]

Well, I'll believe it's P. chinensis. After all, I do have some that laid eggs this year, but I thought they all fuzzled out. I thought I put dobro eggs in that tank, but maybe I mixed them up. The dobro eggs never hatched. So, I'll see what crawls out of there and that'll be that! Either way, it's exciting. It's like a newt lottery!
I can't even decide which one I would rather have hatched for me!

[Otterwoman]

I was just feeding the newts...and now the cyanurus are laying! Is it any wonder I can't keep my larvae straight? This year: C. orientalis, P. waltl, T. grans, dobros, P chinensis, now cyanurus and any day now, verrucosus. It doesn't rain but it pours. I have no outlets left in my basement that don't have at least one power strip plugged in. I had to unplug a filter from a tank with a filter AND a bubbler to set up the cyanurus egg tank with a bubbler. I figure, if I sell all my offspring at $100 each, I'll be able to pay off my house.

[Chris Michaels]

That is definately a Paramesotriton larva! A nice suprise, anyway!

[Otterwoman]

I have six now, and so far they are all surviving. I'm so pleased! What am I going to do with all these Paramesos though! They are (will be) large newts. Partly I want to keep some of the cb ones and see if they'll breed, and partly I don't need another huge tank of newts...I have the original parents (and a third) in a 15 gallon, and I think that's about the limit I'd want in a 15 gallon. Maybe I could give up sleeping in a bed and move to the couch, and put tanks in there...

[Jennewt]

Originally Posted by otterwoman

I have six now, and so far they are all surviving. I'm so pleased! Eventually I'll have to make a regular thread on them, instead of posting in the mod section! What am I going to do with all these Paramesos though! They are (will be) large newts. Partly I want to keep some of the cb ones and see if they'll breed, and partly I don't need another huge tank of newts...I have the original parents (and a third) in a 15 gallon, and I think that's about the limit I'd want in a 15 gallon. Maybe I could give up sleeping in a bed and move to the couch, and put tanks in there...

Paramesos usually go through a terrestrial phase. So for the next year or two you can continue to sleep in a bed. Just put them in a tub under the bed

[Otterwoman]

Thanks, I read it could be a long terrestrial phase. Under my bed are all my nursing scrubs in a box--if I make it through my probation as N. Administrator (1 year), I'm getting rid of them all! I'll never wear scrubs again except on Halloween!

[Otterwoman]

I must have added the co eggs to the pc tank. I thought the pc eggs had all fuzzled out, and I thought I added dobro eggs to that tank (which also didn't hatch) (I have/had quite a few egg tanks going on right this summer, though the t. grans will be morphing soon). I now conclude I must have done this instead. I presently have 11 morphs in that tank (all survive so far, yay!) and here are some more pics below:

They are all the same size right now. I guess I'll raise them together terrestrially until/if that changes, then divide by size. When they're adults I'll put them with their own species in the aquatic tanks (maybe trade some down the road).
Jenn, I am sorry to say that I only have one popei left, but on the other hand, it's doing very well. If that has a significant more time to be terrestrial, maybe I'll put him in there too until they mature (just to save space until they mature). What will I do with one adult popei? HOpefully I'll have better luck with these guys in their terrestrial phase than the popei.
Top pics are I think co; bottom two are the pc. Anyone agree?

[Rodrigo]

Yep, and they are looking very good, Dawn!!!

[Jennewt]

Dawn - I agree with your IDs based on belly coloration. I'm lost on the photos from the top view. Sorry to hear that you ended up with only one popei. You can always trade it to someone who has several, or I can supply you with more. The only problem I can see with keeping species together is that one species may be much better at feeding on whatever food you are supplying. In my experience, Cynops juvs do fine with fast-moving prey, like FF and pinheads, but Paramesos may need slower food, like woodlice and earthworms.

[Otterwoman]

I'm feeding all of them whiteworms and bean beetles. I check them every day or every other day, and they all look good. If I start to notice one species suffering, I'll definitely separate them. Thanks for the advice (I didn't realize that the pc are slower but now that I think about it, I see it). As for the popei, I feel so bad I couldn't make it work, though I tried with shanjing three times and now it's going well, on my third try. After seeing joost's popei pics, I think I"d like to try again. How long are they terrestrial? (the popei).

[Otterwoman]

So far, 100% of my (14) firebelly newts are thriving...There are two left to morph. Yay!
I believe that two are pc, and the rest are co.

[Abrahm]

Wow, you've had quite the year of the newt, Dawn. I'm afraid I have nothing more to add to that except jealousy over your luck and skill raising all these newts!

[Otterwoman]

This is the second year my wc P. chinensis have laid. I got morphs last year but was unable to successfully raise them. Let's try again!

[Amanda]

Fingers crossed!!

[Chris Michaels]

Good luck with them. I have found the best way to deal with Paramesotriton morphs is to give them a largish terrarium (keep them at low density - at high density they don't seem to feed well and are more prone to skin infections) with leaf litter, logs and moss and just add lots and lots of microfoods, including woodlice and white worms. The food will live in the substrate.
Also, provide piles of bark/stones/logs/moss so that they can stay damp at the bottom or very dry at the top. Also make sure there are some rough tones/tiles/broken bricks for them to shed against to avoid skin infections.

I lost lots of P. fuzhongensis morphs until they were moved into this sort of setup, after which they accelerated in growth and started doing really well. They are now back in the water at a friend's, who finished raising them terrestrially. In my experience, the intensive, hand-feeding type of rearing just doesn't work with these shy, highly strung juveniles.

Best of luck with them

C

[Otterwoman]

Thanks...I'm open to any advice anyone wants to give me!

[Chris Michaels]

Another person to contact might be Gunther at salamanderland.at - I have emailed him before about Paramesotriton (he breeds several species) and he was very helpful.

All the best

C

[GE]

Congrats Dawn! Amazing. I have some babies going as well..but nothing compared to you!