Breeding Theloderma corticale (Vietnamese mossy frogs)

[YGDS]

Hi all. I've been in possession of a breeding pair of T. corticale for a little over a couple months now and I must separate them if they continue to breed for another month or so, to prevent burnout of the female. All that being said, despite a steady stream of eggs (over 100 by this point), all have been infertile, turning cloudy within a week and showing no developing embryos.

I have a few ideas as to why this is:
1. The male isn't properly fertilizing the eggs.
2. The water is inhospitable to the germplasm or developing embryos. (e.g. sperm dies before fertilizing the egg).
3. The female is inexperienced and doesn't properly lay her eggs.

For 1, I am trying to acquire another breeding pair to hopefully stimulate the mating behaviour of the male through competition with another male. 3 I can't really solve except by waiting for her to do better.

That leaves 2, which is a big question for me. Currently I fill the bottom of their enclosure with 4" of dechlorinated tap water 2 Indian olive leaves and some alder cones for tannins. I also installed a filter after a couple months to help keep the water from turning muddy. I change 50% of the water every 2 weeks, remove waste and dead feeders daily and only replace water with aged dechlorinated tannin rich water I prep in advance. I keep humidity above 80% by misting occasionally again with matured tannin rich water. Temperature is always 22.0 C. Do I need to use spring water instead as a base? Water quality where I am from is really good, but that might not be enough. Not sure what to do, and experienced advice would be welcome.

I've been through a lot of documents trying to solve the problems but almost none address the possibility of inclement water. While I think the most likely reason is that the male needs more active stimulation, I'd like to know if that is the most likely reason, or whether there are other bases to cover before I invest in more frogs. Thanks to anyone who can help.

 

[michael]

Mine lay eggs on moss covered wood above the water line. I keep them cool. I feed the adults vitamin and calcium dusted crickets. If they are immediately infertile I would look into nutritional and heat problems. Adding another male couldn't hurt.

 

[YGDS]

Thanks Michael, that's helpful. I think investing in some moss would be helpful as a substrate for them to lay in. I am also considering changing the vitamins I use to something like dendrocare, as I've also wondered if the vitamins I'm using have the right balance for frogs. I've also been considering some stress related factors, as the last two clutches that were laid weren't cohesive, but scattered about the enclosure. That being said, they've been becoming gradually more and more voracious since I purchased them. What temperature do you keep them at if you don't mind my asking?

 

[michael]

I keep them at room temp. Over the winter they are about 62F to 68F. In summer they are about 68F to 74F. The eggs seem to do better at cooler temps.

 

[YGDS]

Thanks again Michael. That's good, since I live in a basement suite and the temps are very stable around that same regime. Also, checked into their enclosure today and found two fertile eggs, the tadpoles inside are occasionally wriggling around, so I'm pretty hopeful.