ENSATINA BABY BOOM

I wanted to make a post here -partly so i can remember the date-but also as a point of interest, and a question.

about a month ago i was moving my sierra nevada ensatinas to a new tank and had trouble locating the large female-i found her under the big water dish in the tank-with a batch of about 8-10 eggs-i moved her to the new tank and gave her a prime spot for the eggs-at first she wouldnt return to them, but after a day she was sitting on them again, they are still doing fine, yesterday i looked into the large blotched tank to check on the couple i had in there. though eggs can be seen in gravid females i hadnt been able to tell if she was or not. the male was under the first log but i kept turning over more all the way to the back of the 29 gallon-and didnt see her-i finally overturned the small water dish-and there she was with a clutch of eggs. the eggs are smaller than the other ensatinas though the female herself is bigger. it looked like about 8 eggs-so i put the water bowl back and left her there.

i have 3-4 painted ensats that are also gravid so i will have alot of tiny offspring soon-the question is when? ambient temp is 60-65 F. another question is how long ago were the eggs fertilized?-they have been in captivity since late march, the eggs could be seen in them at that time-so are the males that are with them the fathers-or was it some male last fall or mid winter before they were collected?

Good question. I'm told they start breeding in the fall and on into spring, but then that depends on the subspecies and location. I haven't found a lot of literature that detailed on these guys. I too had to adjust where some eggs were deposited by a croceater. She dropped them out in the open and was guarding them from some cover a few inches away. I moved the cover ,and her, over the eggs and she is still with them. It's been 35 days. I'm still waiting on my picta to drop.

I'm working with klauberi, croceater, picta, platensis and oregonensis. I keep them at 60-70F.

RUSS

Go to the photo gallery and you can see some of my collection.

RUSS

I am interested in getting some ensatinas and was wondering if anyone has any advice for me. I was lucky enough to find my first ensatina today. I was very excited to say the least. It was a Oregon x Sierra Nevada hybrid and it was less than an inch long (it was missing its tail). I found it in the Shasta Trinity National Forest. Since it was in the National forest I was unable to collect it, which is ok, because I have very little knowledge about their care. Well, I just thought I would ask for some help, thanks.

Forgot to ask, does anyone know of a good place to collect ensatinas and also any collecting hints would be appreciated. Does anyone sell ensatinas?

You're going to need some pin-head crickets or fruit flies for that size. I collected a few of the same intergrades last month along Hwy 299 and on the south end of Lake Shasta. None were adult so I'm not sure if they loose that weird color or not. Anywhere within their range is good for collecting as long as there is still moisture. I find that the edge of woodlines is best for most of the subspecies.

No one is selling them as far as I know, basically due to state regulations. I'm working on trying to breed them. Acquiring your own is your best bet.

RUSS

Nobody is legally selling them anyway. I recently talked to a wholesaler who lists on KS classifieds. He told me that he got a "collectors permit" and collected 50 ensatinas within 2 hours. I would doubt what he did was legal but somewhere they ended up for sale,so yes sometimes you may see them for sale.But it is not common.
Good luck finding more ensatinas,you have some of the more colorfull sub-species in your area.
-Travis

Here's one of the oregonensisXplatensis I collected. It's about 3in long.

RUSS

Russ,
Was that intergrade collected at the same place where you collected my two? Mine are much more yellow around the joints. Their backs have a blue tint to them almost.
-Travis

Your's came from up Hwy 299, but not that far away as the crow flies. This one was on the bank of Lake Shasta at the southwest point. The other one I kept, which is much smaller, is identical to the ones I sent you. So I would expect your's to look like this at some point as they grow.

RUSS