P. hongkongensis breeding tips

Yahilles · Oct 14, 2008

I would try to breed my pair of P. hongkongensis this spring, so i have questions for people who are breeding them.
-I've read that light is important to provoke the breeding season. How long and how strong (i have one 15 W compact and two 8 W fluorescent tubes) should i light them?
-For egg-laying plant should i use Egeria densa or Ludwigia repens? (no plastic plants in my aquarium!)
-How long should be winter cooling (temperatures not lower than 15'C, right?)?

Thanks for any answers.

fishkeeper · Oct 14, 2008

I'd just follow the basic lowering and raising of photoperiod(mimicing the amount of hours outside...if its dark outside, your lights should be off). You should be able to find info on HK's daylight times online somewhere...but I doubt mimicking to that degree is necessary.
As for plants...why not use both? One thing is that even though a particular species may work for someone...doesn't mean it will work for you. For example, alot of elodea plants I've seen out there have leaves too small for newts to use. So although I have tons of elodea all eggs are laid on java fern.

hopefully someone will answer your cooling question, but I think you are correct on the temperature. HK doesn't get that cold.

juraj · Oct 15, 2008

Hi Janusz,
You don`t need to provoke anything and you don`t need to wait until spring. The breeding season starts right at these days. I Agree with Joseph . Natural day light which you get through your window is o.k. Put your tank nearby the window if you can. The temperature about 15 °C is also very sufficient. Doesn`t matter if gets a little more lower. If things run all right the males get their characteristic tail sheen soon. Be aware of their agression. Good luck and inform us how is it going.

Yahilles · Oct 15, 2008

Thanks for advices, Juraj!

I have only one pair and they're looking like very peaceful creatures

I can't put tank near the window - it weight is nearly 60 kg (natural planted aquarium)

So i will cut the day properly. More intense water changes would also be good idea?

louise · Oct 16, 2008

My hongkongensis have bred 2 years in a row, and I didn't do anything special for them. They are in a 2' tank with an artificial striplight. The light is programmed to go on at 7am and off at 10pm. This does not vary throughout the year. The sides of the tank are covered. I do not heat or cool the newts in any way either.

juraj · Oct 17, 2008

Janusz: I don`t know if changing the water more frequently than twice a month a third of the tank it`s more useful. I`ve never done it. But you could try .
Lousie : Do your animals breed approximately at the same time of the year ?

louise · Oct 17, 2008

Yes, they start going into breeding mode around November/December and this lasts until about February when eggs are laid. I very rarely change water in their tank, but they have lots of plants. They prefer elodea for laying eggs, and don't really bother with plastic strips.

Yahilles · Oct 25, 2008

Thanks for answers, Louise. So breeding season may/should start in incoming weeks?

Re-started their tank. They're looking and eating well. Female looks like she have swollen cloaca and today i saw her... fanning with her tail. Is it any sign of her looking for males (by spreading any smells)? Male isn't looking like he's planning to breed.
Sorry for bad quality (pale pictures).

Together, male left, female right

Ooh, what is she doing?

Male:

Female:

His cloaca isn't clean, some transparent dirt(?) hanging from cloacal ridges. Should i do something with it or leave him?

Jennewt · Oct 25, 2008

Hi Janusz - I am not an expert on sexing (I often get it wrong when it isn't obvious)... however, I wonder if your thin one could be female? He has a long tail (females usually have longer tails in proportion to total length) and no sign of white tail color. How long have you had them?

I wouldn't worry about the stuff hanging on the cloaca. It looks like some kind of secretion.

Alejandro · Oct 25, 2008

Your "male" looks very skinny to me. I would suggest you start feeding them chopped nightcrawlers before any breeding attemps are made.

Yahilles · Oct 25, 2008

The pair is 100% sexed. My friend, who had them before me, bred them. Male was dancing (as we call tail-fanning in polish language

), setting spermatophores and got tail sheen.
Yes, his hunger is somewhat low and i'm actually trying to make him fatter. At the moment i don't have no access to nightcrawlers, but i'm feeding them with bloodworms, small guppies (occasionally), waxmoth larvae, woodlice, Gammarus etc. I've heard that nightcrawlers (california earthworms, right?) are secreting some not-tasty-for-newts chemicals, so i don't feed them with nightcrawlers.

Jennewt · Oct 26, 2008

I'm glad to know that they have bred previously.

Your information about nightcrawlers is a little mixed up (maybe a language/translation problem). Canadian nightcrawlers are a perfect food for newts - they are like ordinary earthworms, but larger. It is compost worms ("red wigglers" or "tiger worms") that have the not-tasty secretions. Belgian/European nightcrawlers are another kind of compost worm, and they have a little bit of the not-tasty secretions, but are still good newt food. Maybe you have some kind of local earthworms you could feed them? Feeding newts with earthworms is very good for fattening and breeding.

Good luck with breeding them!

louise · Oct 26, 2008

I too was going to say that your male looks very skinny for breeding. My male has just started to develop his tail stripe, earlier than last year.

Yahilles · Oct 26, 2008

Thanks for informations about worms!

"I'm glad to know that they have bred previously."
It's not so clear, female laid only ONE egg and my friend got only ONE morph...

Maybe you have some kind of local earthworms you could feed them

It's not so easy, because here in Poland temperatures are getting lower and lower, and digging for worms can be more tiring for me

But i would try.

I too was going to say that your male looks very skinny for breeding. My male has just started to develop his tail stripe, earlier than last year.

I understand. How does stripe-approaching look like? (correct sentence?)

I started feeding them every day, until he gets fatter. I think he do so. Today i saw that his cloaca looks little bigger, but maybe it's just because i want to see it

alexps · Jul 15, 2013

did your newts breed?

velasco13000 · Feb 5, 2014

any updates on everybody's honkonensis??? any breeding...I have a pair that i acquired but they have been really secretive and hiding all the time...i place food and they don't seem interested like the rest of my newts with their extremes appetites. They physically look good...any suggestions??

Yahilles · Feb 9, 2014

topic archeologists... lol

My hongkongensis are long gone, the male was not going to ever recover from his sickness and wasn't getting better, only a little skinnier every month and eventually died. The female lived like year longer and sadly also died, even though was in good shape till her last days.

Velasco, newts of this genus are rather slow and lazy even though sometimes agressive, what do you feed them and please describe tank conditions under which they live?

velasco13000 · Feb 11, 2014

Sorry to hear about your newts...Well I have mine in a 10 gallon tank with some plants and a few hides..small filter on it..no current...I know they are secretive newts..maybe i should put more plants but appetite wise...they aren't aggressive feeders

P. hongkongensis breeding tips

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