C. orientalis larvae pics

Vert nice Kelsey! "Spot" is really neat. Thanks for the great pic! You are such a good mom
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Thanks!!
That is exciting Joeri! How long did that take? How big are they?
 
The oldest ones hatched end of July, but I admit I had a period with not enough food to keep them growing steadily (an order didn't arrive).
The bigger ones are now 4cm but growing fast now.

One thing I learned though, I started pushing my newts to soon into the water what made them harder to feed on their little islands. (in that same time my order didn't arrive)
The few larves I have now will get a longer time on land. And I allready have cultures going for them
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I'll post pictures soon, bit busy with my thesis now.
 
hey guys... I'm up to 13 morphs now and 12 still coming. They seem to be happy in their little habitat but i have not seen them eating.. They all seem very skinny.. I dont know what to do. They have live blackworms and fruitflies almost constantly, none of which ever seem to be eaten. They just sit together under moss or bark or a leaf. : (
 
Mine took a while before they started eating as well. In the end I got them started with springtails. Small and lively food. Maybe you could try it.
 
How did you find springtails? I dont think any pet stores sell them. I have no idea where to find them. In the mean time i'll keep trying fruit flies. Thanks for advice.
 
I used a Cannon Powershot S410. Although I like the camera because it's small and takes great quality shots, I would not recommend getting this camera for shots like these. It is really hard to get it to focus where I want it to because of the tiny subject matter. The flash is also hard to work with with such small subjects. It is always extremely bright.
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<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Kelsey Frey wrote on Monday, 11 April, 2005 - 16:29 :</font>

"How did you find springtails? I dont think any pet stores sell them. I have no idea where to find them."<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

There's two ways:

1) find a shop that sells reptiles or frogs; they are bound to sell springtails

2) buy a bag of ... euh... (doesn't find English word) ground you use inhouse to culture flowers etc.. Buy the cheapest you can find as there are no chemicals used in it. Put the sand in a closed container and keep it moist (not wet). Put some old bread or fish flakes on it. I often found springtails this way, though I prefer buying them.
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Or you could try the same with some forest soil.

Good luck,
Joeri
 
Actually, I'm fairly certain that not a single pet shop in the US sells springtails. You can get them from other hobbyists or from places that sell live cultures, like lfscultures.com or aquabid.com
 
Aha! Finally something we can buy in Belgium instead of stuff you can't find here (like blackworms)

Ofcourse, next to our famous Belgium nightcrawlers
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Wow-it seems like quite a few of yours have speckles!

Springtails-if the ground is wet, are everywhere. AT this time of year aphids may be available-be sure the area you collect isn't pesticide treated. My morphs took blackworms after about 2-3 days on land.

Hope this helps and good luck with yours!
 
I've had some speckled morphs (though not nearly to that degree) in the past. They always lost it as they matured though. Very interesting animals you have there, Kelsey! Please keep us updated as they mature.
 
One morph died last night. No idea why. Boy that's frustrating. It showed the same actions as my other morphs that died before. It was twisting around erratically, and as soon as I saw it doing that I knew it was going to die. They roll over onto their backs, arch around, roll back to their stomachs and sides... very strange behavior. I wish those little babies could tell me whats wrong. My only idea is that maybe it was trying to shed and couldnt in the dryer conditions. They have access to moisture, and a very small area where they can submerge their bodies but not get entirely under water. It doesnt seem like he could have died just from drowning. I rubbed his skin after he died to see if there was any loose skin, but I couldn't see any. How do they shed when they're dry? Are they supposed to? Well that's an update on my experiences so far. Thanks for reading.
 
Sorry to hear about the loss
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I've seen my morphs shed dry and it works fine. They do best with a rock or something similar to push up against or wedge into. The skin just kind of peels off like a sock. I have noo idea what could cause what you are experiencing though.
 
Joseph, do you keep them completely dry or in something moist? mine have small rocks with water underneath, so the rocks are usually wet to the touch. On top of that they have some moss, a leaf and a piece of bark. Since i keep the water in the bottom, most of the other stuff soaks up the moisture and stays moist. Do you think they can't get dry enough maybe?
 
Omigosh. The morphs are so cute. Right now I have two that have just morphed. They have been eating fruitflies so far and some pieces of chopped earthworm. The don't even seem to care if it is live or not. They even eat the frozen bloodworms I put in their tank. Here's the first little guy right after I discovered him
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