N. kaiseri observations

Having had chance to observe my pair of adult N. kaiseri for a few weeks now, I have some observations I would like to share and would welcome discussion from others who have maintained this species.

After considerable research and agonizing, when I received them I decided to set them up "Sergé Bogaerts-style": 60x30x30 cm tank, 12 cm of water, stack of flat smooth limestone pieces at one end reaching up to the top of the tank offering lots of hiding places.

Initially, they were maintained at around 12C, but based on further research, after a fortnight, I moved them to a more secluded location at ~17C. After the move, I would catch one of them in the water occasionally well after lights out, usually in the early hours of the morning. In the last few weeks, I have no evidence they have been in the water at all. This could be due to the temperature gradually increasing to ~20C?

In the water, I offered Daphnia, small earthworms and slugs, but I have no clear evidence that any of these were taken. On land, I have offered small earthworms and slugs (rejected), small woodlice (Porcellio scaber), Tribolium confusum larvae and lesser waxmoth larvae (Achroia grisella). Although their secretive behavior makes it difficult to monitor what they are eating, mine have a clear preference for insects/arthropods/larvae in the terrestrial phase, unfortunately rejecting earthworms and slugs. Last night, I was able to watch one greedily eating Tribolium larvae.

wow, very nice!

Hi Alan
When I got them after few days some show some strange spots in their skin. They seemed to be changing the skin but where just in small spots. It was a kind of fungus disease. They came ill .I try several medications without results and I lost some. Then I try with SERA BACKTOPUR (you have to bath them in water with some drops for 10 min) and sera BACKTOPUR DIRECT tablets. I treat them all; the ones that show symptoms and the ones that seem to be good. After the medication all were in perfect condition up to today. Already two month without any lose or symptom. I reckon this is one of the best feedbacks concerning fungus disease and their treatment on neurergus.
On keeping:
Well, I have being keeping juveniles in a terrestrial setup. In their terrestrial phase they are really shy. I don't disturb them and I control them once a month or so. They are always in the most hidden place of the tank. They also dig, so many times I have to remove the plants to find them, and they are always under it. I feed them manly with crickets and cut earthworms. They are doing fine and I haven't lost any in a year. You have to make sure that there is no tiny hole since they will escape. I would say that they basic keeping for terrestrial phase is:
-keeping the setup with almost no light and plenty of hiding places
-Providing the setup with quite dry areas (like t.vittatus, t.marmoratus and t.pygmaeus).
-Feeding them with crickets and earthworms (dusting some vitamin powder sometimes).
-And don’t disturb them too much.
On adults it’s pretty the same but not in their aquatic phase. I keep them in aquariums with 20 cm of water with hidden places and some current done by the filter. They are extremely voracious in my case, they eat everything I give: earthworms, tubifex, heart, liver…And they are very active. They move all around and they don’t show any kind of shyness when I come to feed them. If keep them in winter at 12 Cº and those days at 20 Cº. They are doing all fine. I plan to keep them terrestrial by the end o summer till next January in order to breed them and keep them healthy.

Hi Yago, thanks for the feedback.

I'm interested that yours eat earthworms in the terrestrial phase - mine don't seem interested.

Yago, do you know the name of the active ingredient in the Backtopur products?

Nifurpirinol:
http://www.happy-diskus.de/e_artikel/Sera_baktopur_direct.htm

Nasty stuff:
Mutat Res. 1982 Apr;104(1-3):61-6.
Mutagenicity of nifurpirinol (P-7138) in Escherichia coli WP2 and Salmonella typhimurium TA100.
Nakamura Y, Fukushima H, Tomita I, Kimura I.
Nifurpirinol, 6-hydroxymethyl-2-[2-(5-nitro-2-furyl)vinyl]pyridine, which has been widely used as an antibacterial drug against diseases of fish, was found to be a potent mutagen.