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Neurergus strauchii

TJ

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How are everybody's N.strauchii doing? It's been around a year since I got a pair as juvies. I lost one a long time ago but the other's doing well:

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(Message edited by TJ on February 11, 2005)
 
W

wm.

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I got some from another reader who was downsizing. I have had mine for 2 months. I keep them in a 50/50 tank. They spend about 90% of their time in the water. They really enjoy chopped earthworms.
 

jessica

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I have four that are about 15 months old now. I put them in an aquatic setup at 12 months old, and they took to it immediately. All of them walked right into the water and as far as I know, they've not been out since. They're in a stream type tank with a few mossy rocks breaking the surface, and the pH is around 7.2-7.4.

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TJ

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Very interesting. And I hear Nate's went aquatic at a young age too. I guess I should reintroduce mine to water, if only because he's never eaten bloodworm fed by hand and I'd like to beef him up. Size-wise, he (?) seems to be a slow developer.
 
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jennifer

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I have several N. s. strauchii that are offspring of spring 2003 imported as CB from Europe. At this point, they are subadults.

I am doing a bit of an "experiment" regarding care. Half were put in an aquatic setup this winter, and half are still being kept terrestrial. I didn't want to put all of them in water, as some people have had them die when put into aquatic setups. My water here is very hard and alkaline (pH close to 8).

Interestingly, the terrestrial ones appear to eat much less, but continue to grow at about the same rate as the aquatic ones. The two groups have somewhat different food preferences and diet. If anyone is interested, I'll post more details. I haven't measured them lately to see if the two groups have any differences in growth rate, but I could do that too.
 
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sergé

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Yes, I am interested. In nature juveniles stay terrestrial until they are adult. Trust me, i have seen them in the wild in Turkey. However in captivity it is possible to raise them more aquatic (but same goes for some Triturus species). This has been describe by Dr. Fleck in a german magazine Salamandra in the late seventies.
However this has led to some problems (i have raised them fully aquatic and when they started becoming adults one after the other died..). Therefor many people now raise them terrestrial and wait until they are adult before entering them in the water. It is the more natural way although they can grow a bit slower. But is that a problem? (we are sometimes to hasty in raising animals which can lead to malformaties).
I raise them fully terrestrial on leaflitter. I feed them crickets and small mealworms and other insects. They were bred by the same austrian breeder as the ones that have appeared in the States and are no around 10 cm total length.
 

jessica

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Hi Serge,
So how long would they stay terrestrial in the wild? 2-3 years? I moved mine into an aquatic setup only because they were spending all of their time congregated in a small pool one one side of the tank, and had been doing so for at least 2 months prior. They were also trouble-free in their terrestial home, and I actually put off transferring them for some time because I was worried about how they would react to the water. I hope I do not experience fatalities like you mention.

Jessica
 

TJ

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Mine remains terrestrial. I'm thinking of introducing it to water soon
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J

jennifer

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My aquatic/terrestrial experiment continues... The terrestrial group is doing great and growing well.

The aquatic group is slightly larger, but much more mature: they have far more yellow spots, and the male got his breeding colors this fall. My basement was not cool enough (16C), so I moved them to the garage (10-12C) in hopes of some "action". Here are photos of the aquatic male and his two gals.

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N

nate

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Hi all, I introduced my strauchii to an aquatic tank a few weeks after getting them and they have never left. I recieved 2 additional animals a few months later, which had been kept terrestrial, and they also entered water and fed and have not left since. They will climb out onto rocks at night.

They're looking lovely Jen
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S

sergé

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Hi all,
well, this exchange of information is good. I don't think it easy just to compare terrestrial or aquatic if for instance the amount of food is not equal.
I think in nature the animals probably stay terrestrial for two or three years. But I can imagine that males start earlier with breeding than females. Like in many other animals it is probably not the age but the size that determines when they start to breed.
Jennifer: your animals look like capable of breeding. The females look 'fatter' when compared with the male. When did you move them to the colder location? Just recently or already in fall?
Sergé
 
J

jarid

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Jen, those strauchii are looking great! Good luck! I hope they breed for you soon.
 
J

jennifer

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I didn't move them to the colder location until mid-January. Since then, I have observed the male tail-waving and showing papillae. I am hopeful, but not overly optimistic.

For those who breed strauchii regularly, what is the usual "schedule"? In what month are they put back into water? And are they kept quite cold for the entire aquatic period? In what month(s) do they typically lay the eggs?

I agree that an aquatic/terrestrial experiment will never be equal. Even if they are offered food on the same schedule or 'ad libitum', newts that are aquatic vs. terrestrial will always eat different amounts and different types of food. I find that the aquatic strauchii seem to need a lot more food, probably because aquatic life uses more energy.
 
S

sergé

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That's nice one.."who breeds them regularly"....and the answer is: no-one!
In nature they lay eggs in may..but there the enter the water in april. The watertemperatures differed from roughly 11 to 15 degrees Celcius. Most of them were around 13-14. Hope this helps a bit...
 
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