Hello everyone.

My first post on the site so hope I'm not out of line by starting out with posting a couple of pictures and questions . The salamander in the picture is a common species here in Missouri and there are many of them in a small pond back in the woods behind our house. Is this an Eastern red spotted newt?



I see these eggs every spring about this time of year but this year there seem to be many more than usual. Looking though pictures on google images it doesn't appear that these are the eggs of a redspotted newt though and I'm wondering if they are and if not, is it possible to tell from the picture what species laid them? Other possibilities are Spotted salamanders which I find occasionally in the surrounding forest but I don't come across them very often. There are also supposed to be Tiger salamanders here too but I've never found one.

What are your thoughts on putting the eggs in an aquarium to try to hatch them and then raising them to adulthood?

Thanks for any response. Hope I'm not out of line asking all these questions right off the bat....

PS The newt and the dragonfly nymph were kept in the small container only long enough to take a couple of quick pictures.

That is an eastern newt without spots.It looks like a central newt.The eggs look like spotted salamander eggs and if you want to try and raise them they should be easy.Be prepared to have lots of small worms and daphnia.Spotted sals are not out and about in the day but do lay in ponds during the early spring during and after a large rainfall.If you have any more questions feel free to ask or pm me.Questions are good to ask.

Thank you! I would like to raise a few of them. I'll take you up on your offer of advice, I have several questions already and am sure I'll have more as I go along.

I have a twenty gallon aquarium that I'm not using right now. Would it be large enough for one of the smaller clumps (that's probably not the right word) of those eggs?

The eggs I see in the ponds are usually about six or eight inches below the surface. .Does it make a difference where the eggs sit in the water column?

Do they need direct sunlight? Most of the vernal ponds where I've seen them in the past have quite a bit of shade over them, but the fact that they are usually near the surface makes me think they may need as much sun as they can get?

Should I run a pump and filter on the in the aquarium?

How often should I change the water?

That's a lot of questions. I haven't had time to do so yet but I imagine that most of them can be answered right here by looking through old threads. Just thought I'd get off to quick start by asking these initial questions.

Thanks so much for your help..

Yes the 20 g tank should be big enough for the small clump of eggs.The larvae will be small so a 20 gallon tank is fine for now.I recently found a cluster of eggs in a newt pond which look exactly like the egg sacs you shown.I don't believe they need direct sunlight,maybe a little but make sure it's no warmer than 70 high,mid 60's is best.You don't need a pump or filter,if you can put live plants in that will help keep the water clean.Be sure to use aged water that is a day old or use the pond water.I would change the water about once a week atleast.unless it looks clean.Make sure to check and remove aquatic predators like the one in the pic with the newt,they will feed on the eggs and larvae.You can also collect daphnia from the pond's water edges.They are mainly with the green algae.I hope someone with more experience can help you out,i'm just pointing out the obvious suggestions.Good luck with them and keep us posted.

Just thought i'd mention that wood frogs eggs look a little like spotted sal eggs,I would do a search on something like"spotted salamander eggs photos" and wood frog egg photos.Have you ever seen wood frogs around the pond?spotted salamander eggs are usually black.

They look like spotted salamander eggs and not wood frog eggs. You would raise them just like you would do axolotls.