A question for all the people that have triturus in breeding condition in this period

F

francesco

Guest
In my experience I've always kept triturus cool from december to jannuary-february in order to get them in breeding condition in spring.

So the question is: how come a lot of people on this forum have their newts in breeding condition already in november?. Shouldn't they be in hibernation in this period? For example my marmoratus are in a refrigerator at the moment and they don't have hi crests like tim's.

Cheers
francesco
 
My T. karelinii are all rather chubby with eggs, and the male has a crest. I have not done any artificial temperature changes. The temp in my herp area is around 15C (as compared with the -10C outside, lol), and my male has a gigantic crest. My question for you guys: will they start mating as it warms up, or in the midst of the cold snap?
 
WHAT????? A newt on the refrigerator??? Is this necessary??? MY triturus stay active the hole year!!! Am I doing wrong???

(Message edited by Felipe_brasil on December 09, 2005)
 
Hi Francesco.

Their tank is nearest the floor, so coolest. With the room temperature at 19 C, the water temperature in their tank is 16 C. It may rise a degree or two at times, but that's about as low as it gets in there. I'm didn't do anything in particular to stimulate their breeding, like shortening the lighting period for example. Well, that is other than reducing the land area, expanding the water area and deepening their water, which I did.

Hope you get some earlier-than-expected breeding results this time around!
 
Hello Francesco,
In my experience I followed the animals natural breeding pattern. Then again it depends on which species you are attempting to breed. I am currently breeding and raising Triturus pygmaeus and their larvae. According to Rubén, this is a normal time for some individuals in the wild to commence their breeding cycle. Also, I keep them in an un heated room and worked with the season. The unheated room never rises above 15 degrees celcius and i prolong the photoperiod to match that of the first spring season. We had a rather odd autumn this year in the Netherlands and at some moments it was too cold for autumn and the temperature was somewhat low and then it gradually warmed up to a normal autumn temperature. Even now in winter the weather is too mild and thus is similar to"spring". I guess in my case it was working with the weather and the animals did the rest.
 
Temperature plays a clear role in the maturity of the sexual organs, but in captive conditions I think a simple reduction of temperatures during some months is enough to stimulate sexual activity. This works specially if we talk about the cristatus/marmoratus group and any other "not strictly" mountain species.
 
An example:

one of my friends maintain Triturus dobrogicus outdoor (in Barcelona, Spain) and ... look at this
happy.gif



49940.jpg
 
I only drop down temps about 15F (to around the mid 50's) and play around with the light cycle for my marms
 
Dave, I think you mean 15C.
wink.gif


Francesco, it's been my experience with karelinii, marmoratus, and alpestris that they come into breeding condition in the late fall. If they were kept terrestial, it might be a different story.

Filipe, don't panic. Some people use refrigeration, but it isn't necessary.
 
For example, I'll post a photo of my male alpestris apuanus. My basement is 15C, and the males have been like this for several weeks. I also shorten their light cycle in accordance with nature in the fall.

49957.jpg
 
Actually I meant I drop the temps about 15F, from 70F down to about 55F (the mid 50s)but thanks for looking out for me Jen
happy.gif
 
My basement is 20c right now. The T. karelinii and T. marmotus are cresting. The karelinii are laying eggs. I blocked off the heat to my basement in the winter. In the summer I air condition it and don't let the temp get much over 70f to 75F. In spring to try to get things to breed that havn't I bounce the temp up and down about 10degrees for a week at a time. I usualy don't worry much about light cycle and stuff like that.
 
My aquatic alpestris and karelinii always appear to come into condition in late autumn (males with full crests), but never lay eggs until march or april. They do get cold (5-10C for most of the winter), but still feed well.

Aquatic boscai, italicus, carnifex and dobrogicus seem similar, though I've not had as much experience with these.

I do use 'natural' light cycles- I have a timer I change once a month(ish).

My suspicion is that ideal breeding temperature is about 15C.

Personally, I prefer spring breeding, as I collect a lot of daphnia for the larvae- not many of these around in the winter.
 
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