Breeding

[Rubes]

I'm not looking to breed any newts now, but after a female CFBN lays one clutch of eggs, if she's kept in the same tank as the male, will she continue to breed with the male and keep on laying eggs?

 

[Azhael]

My female has laid eggs intermitently for up to 9 months of the year. They typically lay a bunch of them, then stop for a week or so, then another batch, and so on and so on....

 

[Rubes]

My female has laid eggs intermitently for up to 9 months of the year. They typically lay a bunch of them, then stop for a week or so, then another batch, and so on and so on....

Would the constant laying of eggs ever become stressful?

 

[Azhael]

If it ever came to that i expect she would just stop laying. The assumption is that she lays eggs for as long as she is physiologically able, which includes both hormonal levels and food reserves. There´s nothing to stop her from continuing to produce eggs if the toll becomes too big. I´m certainly not dosing her with hormones or controlling the environment in any way to prolong breeding. She does what she does, because she can xD

 

[Kaysie]

They're not as prolific as axolotls. But if it comes to a point where you think the egg-laying is stressful on the female, you can just separate them for a while.

 

[Azhael]

That works with axolotls but it won´t prevent a female H.orientalis from continuing to produce eggs. They store sperm for long periods of time. They´ll eventually pick up more spermatophores if necessary, but just the one is enough for quite a show. Also, if the female "doesn´t feel like" laying more eggs, no amount of male enthusiasm will change that. My males are sexually active for most of the year but it´s the female who decides when the breeding season starts. Same goes for other species like C.pyrrhogaster.
These newts have a different strategy than axolotls which produce massive clutches in very short spans of time.