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Captive breeding of A. maculatum?

ACF

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HI, I'm managing an Animal Care Facility for a university and have a researcher wanting to raise and breed our local spotted salamanders - Ambystoma maculatum. I'm reading like crazy all over this site (SO much great stuff!) but still not finding anyone who has successfully breed these animals in captivity.

We have many larvae now metamorphosing into salamanders. (So darn cute) We have facilities to regulate temperature and photoperiod, but I'm not sure if I can grow them to maturity faster by not simulating winters. What would be their ideal temperature for growth and health? Or do they NEED winter?

The researcher wants breeding as soon as possible. My thought is that maturity takes time. But how much time? They usually breed in their 4th year in the wild. Can they grow to maturity faster in captivity?

Can they even be bred in captivity? Kind of an important question since the time and effort of raising these guys will be substantial.

Any thoughts, experience or suggestions ever so welcome. Thanks

ACF
 

ahritchie

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HI, I'm managing an Animal Care Facility for a university and have a researcher wanting to raise and breed our local spotted salamanders - Ambystoma maculatum. I'm reading like crazy all over this site (SO much great stuff!) but still not finding anyone who has successfully breed these animals in captivity.

We have many larvae now metamorphosing into salamanders. (So darn cute) We have facilities to regulate temperature and photoperiod, but I'm not sure if I can grow them to maturity faster by not simulating winters. What would be their ideal temperature for growth and health? Or do they NEED winter?

The researcher wants breeding as soon as possible. My thought is that maturity takes time. But how much time? They usually breed in their 4th year in the wild. Can they grow to maturity faster in captivity?

Can they even be bred in captivity? Kind of an important question since the time and effort of raising these guys will be substantial.

Any thoughts, experience or suggestions ever so welcome. Thanks

ACF

I have not heard of any breeding operations for this species, probably because they are pretty common and readily availability of cheap WC individuals in the pet trade. I doubt they need a simulated winter as they are found as far south as Alabama and Texas where there is not much of a winter to speak of. I would take it their temperature range has got to vary more than most salamanders to have such a huge geographic range, your Canadian sals might like it a bit colder! :D
 

noneofmany

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Unfortunately, most ambystomas are extreamely difficult to breed in captivity.

I'm not sure how difficult spotted salamanders are on the scale but if their anything like tigers I'd say you have a challenge on your hands. Also keep in mind that this is a year long endeavor at least since they won't just breed any time of the year. They have to have spring summer and fall to go though and then a burmattion period in the winter followed by a change of habitat at the onset of the breeding season where they need water with a shoreline and a proper area to lay their eggs.

If you have a local species of newt I'd suggest starting with them.
 

ACF

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OMG how did I miss this! I went back to 2003 but it would seem my 'search' didn't work perfectly for me
THANK YOU. Lots of logical, useful info there.

I am still wondering about growing them more quickly to maturity than the 4-5 years it takes with our local climate.

If they like areas as far south as Texas, then it would seem to be reasonable to try as long as I go back to a local weather pattern for a least a year prior to breeding.
 

froggy

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Local populations are likely to be adapted to local clmate, so I would bet that A. maculatum from colder climates wouldn't tolerate as warm temperatures as their cousins from warmer climes. Alternatively, it may be that neither populations tolerate heat well and the southern populations just dig down deeper during hot weather. Although, as with many amphibians, captive breeding often does not require changes as extreme as those in the wild, I would try to model your husbandry on data for the local population, rather than on southern populations.
 

ACF

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thank you. Wise thinking.

The plan is to raise them at 18-19 degrees C for the first year - as any hobbyist might.

then when they are big enough to produce eggs/sperm, I will give them an annual cycle with four seasons -ranging from 4C to 19C. And plop them in a 'vernal' pool to see what happens.
A few obvious questions arise : (they might be addressed elsewhere and I will continue to read more.)
- How fast do they grow?
- How do I know when they are a mature size?
- How do I sex them
- How long does it take for a female to develop eggs?

Also wondering about the natural burrowing depth and what temperature they seek in winter in this climate. Hard to find local info.
 

SludgeMunkey

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I have been experimenting with Justin's methods and I feel that a big scoop of vernal pool mud from a known breeding pond is the secret.
 

ACF

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update. CONCERNS! ALL suggestions welcome, please

We only have 20 sals left. They are now 2 1/2 to 3 inches long. They seemed to be growing well in general, though over time the smallest and poorest doers died off. Then I lost two bigger dudes!! Not good!

In the last three months, all of the population seems to have slowly have lost weight. (we weight them every two weeks). I checked charts and saw that most of our mortalities last year were in the winter period as well!

So I wondered if it was because they did not have a natural seasonal change of temperatures and cooled them down slowly to 4C. In February.

More info:
We've been holding them in individual containers, in a few inches of coconut fiber/soil mix. Keeping it damp and offering free choice earthworms and sowbugs. Water dish cleaned daily. Substrate is 'fluffed' weekly so it doesn't compact and disallow access to worms.

I guess I am wondering how everyone else keeps their sals over winter. How long a cold period do they need?

any ideas are welcome.

(and no, we can't just go get more - these animals come from a rare natural situation and we hope to learn something of biological importance by growing and breeding them)

thanks for your time
Anne Louise
 

Ominojacu

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You have some great advice here. I am currently working on breeding tiger salamanders but their care is similar. I am working on a outdoor breeding cage and also a cheap Peltier device chiller, for controlling environments indoors. You should search for my posts and updates on these ideas. Brumation itself can have fatalities so you should avoid putting weak or sick animals into brumation. It does have a great deal of benefit, it stimulates the immune system and regeneration, not to mention breeding. Also a key breeding trigger is changes in humidity and lighting.
 
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