I can add Hemidactylum scutatum to my list......

Greatwtehunter · Apr 5, 2010

So I got a pleasent surprise last Saturday when a few other members stopped by my house. I went digging through my Hemidactylum scutatum tank to show them my adults when low and behold I found not just one female guarding eggs but all three of my females sitting around their eggs!!

The only thing I really did for these guys was give them a really cold winter then I heavily fed them when their tank started warming up. Simple enough!!

Here is their tank. That is in fact live sphagnum moss.

Here is female #1.

Female #2.

Finally, here is female #3. You can start to see the eggs developing in this picture.

sirus14 · Apr 5, 2010

Very Nice. I love this species

Azhael · Apr 5, 2010

Lovely!!!
This species seems to be rather easy to breed (compared to other north american species). At least here in europe i´ve seen several reports of succesful breedings, which is briliant!
I sure would love to get my hands on some nice CB H.scutatum in the future. They have a certain something that i really like.

How long have you had them for??

John · Apr 5, 2010

Congratulations Justin. I would have loved to have seen them when I was down there.

Alejandro · Apr 5, 2010

Congratulations for such an accomplishment!:happy:

KennyDB · Apr 5, 2010

Nice Justin

scuts are high on my fav list, really interesting little critters.
Good luck with the larvae soon

and thanks for sharing

pierson_hill · Apr 5, 2010

Fantastic! Keep an eye out around hatching time for the mothers assisting the larvae in reaching the water -- I've heard tale of female Hemidactylium carrying larva with their snouts but have not seen this officially documented.

KennyDB · Apr 6, 2010

Azhael said:
This species seems to be rather easy to breed (compared to other north american species). At least here in europe i´ve seen several reports of succesful breedings, which is briliant!

I only know about two "breedings" (egg depositions), please pb me about those other reports.

KennyDB · Apr 7, 2010

KennyDB said:
I only know about two "breedings" (egg depositions), please pb me about those other reports.

I forgot about 1 "breeding" so I know of 3 "breedings"

taherman · Apr 8, 2010

Great work Justin! They are the best salamander

Careful though, once you breed Hemidactylium you'll want to breed every plethodontid...

At the zoo some laid early, so we already have larvae in the water. I think that's 4 years in a row now for us. I think this year we may even get some F2s, though I'm not sure if they are quite mature enough.

Make sure you have a good tank of copepods, Daphnia, and the like going. They need lots of very tiny food, and brine shrimp nauplii don't seem to be quite nutritious enough to grow them at a normal pace (though they work to tide them over if you're running low on other stuff)

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any questions. Awesome job!
-Tim

Greatwtehunter · Apr 15, 2010

taherman said:
Careful though, once you breed Hemidactylium you'll want to breed every plethodontid...

Too late!!!

Here is what the eggs look like as of a few days ago.

johnskillcorn · Jul 1, 2010

I find this account interesting. Hemidactylium scutatum, the four-toed salamander is my favourite, for no real reason other than it's quite a quaint little animal.
As the result of a gift of several pairs of this animal from a very generous benefactor (I'll spare his blushes) I was lucky enough to breed this species here in the UK during May/June of 2008, and have a well-documented series of photos if anyone is interested.
John Skillcorn

eljorgo · Jul 8, 2010

Hey John! Come on! Bring up those awesome looking photos please!!

Lisso93 · Jul 8, 2010

Nice!
Let's see if we can teach the development of the eggs and then its larval development.
Greetings.

eMax · Apr 15, 2014

Justin, can you add more details about this setup? And where in the tank they actually bred? Did they lay very close to the water? Do the adults spend much time in the Sphagnum or in other parts of the terrarium? And what do you feed the adults?

Sorry for all the questions, I just love this species and would love to learn as much as I can about breeding these and other tiny plethodontids someday!

DavidHarr · Nov 19, 2014

Greetings! I am conducting a comparative study of fully and semi-aquatic salamanders and am looking to broaden my study by adding some additional species. I am on the lookout for the following types of salamanders, wild caught or captive bred, and was hoping you might be able to help me out: Hemidactylum larvae, Gyrinophilus larvae, Typhlotriton and/or Typhlomolge. My name is David Harrington and I have almost 30 years experience caring for and studying amphibians. I am in a position to pay for any animals including the shipping costs to Oregon where I live. I have all the necessary tanks, pumps, filters, chillers and other equipment and supplies to keep all salamanders happy, healthy and secure. Please contact me at your earliest convenience if you or somebody you know can help me out You can contact me directly at: (503)238-2800 or e-mail me at: david7945harr@yahoo.com Thank!

Great Regards,
David Harrington, Herpetologist & Independent Researcher

DavidHarr · Nov 20, 2014

Please get in touch with regarding a question about Hemidactylum larvae. You can email me direct at: david7945harr@yahoo.com

Thanks, David Harrington

tindomul1of9 · Dec 18, 2015

Great photo! Now I know what to do for mine in terms of housing.

I can add Hemidactylum scutatum to my list......

New member

New member

Site Contributor

Founder

Caudata.org Donor

New member

New member

New member

New member

Caudata.org Donor

New member

New member

Attachments

Banned

New member

Member

New member

New member

New member