Just showing off

Pipa parva spawning a couple of weeks ago. Alan, if you're reading this, I haven't forgotten you wanted some, but I don't want to jinx it by making promises just yet - there's still a long way to go.

Taken on a Canon 10D, 100mm macro, flash, for those that are interested.

Chris

(Message edited by jennewt on February 08, 2004)

Hi Chris. Congratulations . I hope they do well. Did you use just the on-camera 10D flash?

Excellent Chris
Glad they bred for you,keep us informed on how things go.

Woo Hoo! I was going to email you Chris. Keep us (me) posted!

Hello John.

The flash was off-camera but close to it and slightly above and to one side. I used a 550EX which is quite a bit more powerful than the on-camera flash so that I could get f22.

Chris

Thanks for sharing Chris. Any bounced light or was it all direct?

John,

Bouncing light into an aquarium is full of pitfalls, as you know, because of reflections on the front glass. I try to keep things as simple as possible by using a single light source. Using a light substrate helps, though, to bounce some light up onto the underside of the critters.

By the way, I apologise for the way my images have caused the page to be too wide for the screen. I'll try to do better next time!

Chris

ohh..me want some too! my pipa pipas are currently starting to amplex each other but not with full interest, the females vents are getting more swollen but nothing like your females yet...ive got them in 18 inches of water(the lowest i am told that will produce results) i can raise it another 2 if they cant seem to somersault but when its a the top they bang up their noses alot. keep us posted with pics of the developing embryos...btw is this the only female you have with eggs?

Hi Chris, you could edit the message and wrap the photos but I'll do that for you. It's not too wide for my screen but that's because I'm working at 1680x1050. As for bounced light, I find it quite good if manually tuned and with the tank lid off. It's tricky though and you need the subject to stay still while you experiment with angles and power.

1. Thanks for re-arranging the photos, John. I will get the hang of it - eventually.
2. Bouncing light: yes, it's OK if you know exactly where the subject is going to be - but it only has to move a few inches and it's back to the drawing board. Personally, I tend to forgo the niceties of lighting to make sure I get something!
3. Progress: is not looking too good. The female has changed shape - lumpiness is now in the abdomen instead of on the back. This is ominous - I think she may have 'given birth' and eaten the tadpoles when I was not looking. I haven't given up yet, but assuming the worst I at least know I have a compatible pair and will keep trying. Does anybody have prior experience of breeding these? Perhaps our Dutch or German friends? Any advice would be appreciated. Especially the bit about not eating their own tadpoles - they're such greedy little b*****s that I don't see how they can be prevented from eating them if they have a mind to (and this is even when keeping the female isolated).
4. Paris: I bred Pipa pipa many years ago (1% skill and 99% accident) in about 12 inches of water or less. Egg-laying occurred overnight so I didn't witness it but, in Pipa parva, they do not do complete somersaults, just 'victory rolls', staying inverted for a few seconds while the egg(s) are expelled. So depth of water is probably not too important.

"I don't see how they can be prevented from eating them if they have a mind to"

If you know the approximate incubation period before the eggs hatch, some sort of breeding trap, i.e. with gaps that the tads can fall/swim through but the adult can't?
The classical way of making this is with glass rods and soft wire, but I guess you could use bamboo or any sort of plastic container with slots/holes cut in it.

How does Lars manage?

Hello Alan.

Yes, I had the same thought. The trick, of course, is to know the incubation period! If they really have been eaten, at least I will have this bit of information. I don't imagine the females will be too happy about living in a trap indefinitely - they would have to have access to the surface to breathe and to the bottom to feed. My attempt to protect the tadpoles was to put a large clump of Java Moss in the tank.

I intend to contact Lars shortly and will let you know what he has to say.

Chris

Depending on what Lars says, I'd go for the largest possible floating plastic box inside a larger tank. This will presumably need a lid to prevent the female going over the side. Still add plenty of plants (real or plastic) to both containers.
An alternative is to try to add enough live food to the tank to keep the female stuffed so she is unlikely to eat many fry. Earthworms? Guppies?

I have bred parva in the past, and had the same bad experience! The second time round was more successful...I reared 17 tads to maturity.
Hope the next breeding is better Chris. Instead of messing around with green water, I used the Tadpole Diet from Blades Biological, http://www.blades-bio.co.uk/ "a high protein diet for suspension feeders". (The adults are partial to their Xenopus pellets as well). It does tend to sour the water, so the trick is to move the occupants to a new container daily.

A simple false bottom would be to use the white plastic egg crating used to shield flourescent lights once you know spawning has occured.
The egg crating comes in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets here in the USA and can be cut to any size needed. I also use these to create false bottoms in terrarias that are flow through or have a drain so the tank can be flushed without having to strip the tank.
The egg crating can be placed on cut sections of PVC to give you whatever height that is desired.
Just some thoughts,
Ed

Hello everyone.

Just to catch up after several weeks away from Caudata.org. The Pipa parva have now spawned three times (same pair). The first two lots I am sure the tads got eaten before I even saw them. I have now made a breeding trap, after a design from Lars Osterdahl. Normal breeding traps (glass rods, etc.) are no good because pipid tadpoles need to come up to the surface to breathe, so even if they dropped through the floor of the trap when they hatched, they would probably re-enter to get to the surface. Then it would be come a feeding trap. Lars design avoids this. I don't want to publish it (unless someone has urgent need) until I've tried it out and perhaps refined it. Anyway, the good news is that they seem to be capable of spawning every couple of months, even with moderate feeding.

I hope to get some juvenile Pipa carvalhoi shortly, to add to the family. I know there are some P. pipa around but, having bred these 20-odd years ago, and being short of space, I have decided to give them a miss.



The photo shows the female immediately after spawning. You can also see a few eggs that missed the mark, caught up in the Java moss. These soon got hoovered up by the adults, of course.

Regards,

Chris

Fingers crossed Chris!

Hi chris, it was originally the pics of your parva that got me to this site via XFrogs on Yahoo.

I recently got some of the baby pipas that are floating around just now, but a couple died in transit... getting replacements tuesday coming.

Do you have any plans for selling parva froglets and is it likely that carvalhoi will be available to others???

Lastly, have you bred budgett frogs? I have an adult pair that are coming out of aestivation right now. They have been in since November and right now are still in their box but i'm putting them in the shower room for a hour each day to hear the 'rain' and i am gradually making the peat wetter.. any tips on water depth, temp, feeding etc???

thanks for your time
Colin

Yes, I'm crossing my fingers, Alan. You'll be the first to hear!

Colin, I sent you a separate email.

Regards,

Chris