Hello

[zuccone]

Hi,

I would like to know the maximum length that a pleuro can reach in captivity. If you have some pics I will be very interested to t see that.

Thanks in advance.

Zuccone.

[mike]

Hi Zuccone,

All will be revealed at:http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Pleurodeles/P_waltl.shtmlhttp://www.caudata.org/forum/clipart/happy.gif

[michael]

According to cc they get 12 inches in the wild and are typically 6 to 8 inches in captivity. I would have guessed they might get larger in captivity. My females are about 9 inches now.

[sergé]

Experiences from a dutch keeper who has been keeping and breeding them for several years now is that if you don't let them reproduce they eventually grow larger. Energy is than put in growing instead of in reproducing. But scientifically I don't know if anybody has ever tried to prove this. So keep males and females separate and others together, keep them under the same conditions and let's see what happens in 5 years...if you have enough animals it is worth a try.

[zuccone]

Hi all,

I come back 2 years later, and I would be always interested in seeing big size pleuros in their enclosure!!! Therefore, if you have somme photos, don't hesitate to post them !
Many thanks.

Zuccone.

[miriam]

Hey zuccone,
Here's a picture of my female pleurodeles waltl. I think she's about 22 centimeter long.http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/66390.jpg

[zuccone]

Hi Miriam,

Thank you for sharing, very beautiful specimen ... 22 centimeters
How old is she ?

Zuccone.

[miriam]

She's about three years old

[zuccone]

Would you have a picture of her enclosure out of curiosity ?

Thanks in advance.

Zuccone

[jeff]

I have a picture I got from someone else, I think this one is over 3 years old. http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c291/Jeffnewtboy/p_waltl_huge.jpg
I can't post the picture directly but its worth it to see how huge the thing is!

[sergé]

Does remind me of a dutch plant wholesaler who uses pictures of children's hands carrying strawberry's that look like apples in his catalogue. I want facts! In centimeters! Haha.

[francesco]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Sergé Bogaerts (Sergé) on Wednesday 29 September 2004 - 12:06 (#POST34351):</font>

Experiences from a dutch keeper who has been keeping and breeding them for several years now is that if you don't let them reproduce they eventually grow larger. Energy is than put in growing instead of in reproducing. But scientifically I don't know if anybody has ever tried to prove this. So keep males and females separate and others together, keep them under the same conditions and let's see what happens in 5 years...if you have enough animals it is worth a try.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

I've heard the same thing by discus breeders: if the animals breed when still young they won't grow as big for the same reasons you mentioned, Serge. I think this applies especially to females who spend more energy than males because they have to produce eggs.