Anyone have experience with Amphiuma hatchlings?

A clutch of 40 A. tridactylum eggs was collected and hatched after being placed on damp paper towels. The hatchlings were set up in a small tank with about three quarters of an inch of water and some aquatic vegetation (coontail). Filtration has not been added yet but I'm guessing a sponge filter would be the best choice. They all seem to be doing well and are feeding on live mosquito larva. I know there is not a whole lot of info out there in the literature on Amphiuma reproduction much less husbandry of hatchlings. Any thoughts?

I don't know much about their care, but would really appreciate it if you'd take some pictures.

Actually the gills resorbed almost immediately which is also stated in Patranka and other references. As of earlier today, only one individual has the remainders of gills evident, three days after hatchling. From my experience several adults(6-8 specimens)do well together IF they are of proportionate size AND the enclosure is fairly large. New individuals can be introduced to the group (after a quarantine period)through the use of a mesh divider in the enclosure.

Absolutely beautiful! I never thought I'd see baby amphiumas on here. Keep the pictures coming, Rick!

I've moved this thread to the Amphiuma area.

so i got a question here-its hard to see in the photograph-are they born with all 4 dwarfed limbs or do they follow the usual caudate pattern and get the hind ones later. did these guys hatch out with front limbs -or did it take a few days for those to grow too?

Paris, all emerged from the egg as miniature replicas of the adults with the addition of gills, which they lost almost immediately. All four limbs are visible and "functioning". Look at the bottom left corner of the pic and you can see the front limbs on one specimen and the rear limbs on another one.

how did they collect the eggs? i thought that amphiumad curled around their eggs. i know they can be really nasty , so i imagine that one with eggs would be REALLY nasty, but i wouldint know since ive never found any. that really cool though that you have these hatchlings, i too thiought i would never see an amphiuma hatchling. interesting that they emerge almost fully formed, jsut like with many plethodontids.

One of the more shocking things about this whole experience was the size of the female. She was only 40cm (16 inches)long and 135g. If I would have seen this animal under any other circumstance I would have assumed it was a sub-adult not yet of the size and age to reproduce but after consulting a few references apparently females just over 30cm and 3-4 years old can produce ova. I have encountered specimens in excess of 98 cm (39 in), just shy of the record size and I'm assuming these are the size animals that are producing up to 200+ eggs or "two quarts" as one reference states. But to answer your question, yes she was coiled around the eggs but looked very "whipped". Females can remain with the eggs in excess of 4 months. From my experience with Amphiuma they can be aggeressive when handled, especially after the initial capture but all in all I have never experienced the type of aggression that is written in the literature. Maybe the specimens in New Orleans are more relaxed. They don't call it the Big Easy for nothing!

live mosquito larvae are a potentially dangerous food item-to the humans in your house, if they arent eaten. my impression from a few other posts is that amphiumas will eat any thing that isnt nailed down -have you tried frozen food or something else less risky?

They are currently feeding on various frozen items in addition to live. The mosquito larvae was simply what was readily accessible at first.

Last spring I caught a tiny A. means in a leaf mat while I was dipnetting for Necturus alabamensis . . . it never fed well for me though . . . surprising given that all the adult Amphiuma I've had eat like pigs.

Troy