Captive repro of Hemidactylium

[coendeurloo]

Congratulations!

I did set up a side by side trial with larvae in an established tank with diverse microfauna, and another group getting just brine shrimp nauplii. The brine shrimp group grew much slower and eventually I moved them to other tank.

I'd suggest collecting some other microinvertebrates if possible to augment their diet.

Good luck!
-Tim

Thanks for the suggestion Tim. What techniques do you use to gather microfauna? I have a pond nearby full of daphnia.

 

[rigsby]

I have ten larvae growing well just keeping them in pond water, i do a 50% change every few days.

 

[taherman]

I would just sweep the water with a fine meshed dip net made for tropical fish. Just be careful not to add any odonate (dragonfly/damselfly) larvae which are predaceous and may eat your Hemidactylium.

-Tim

 

[coendeurloo]

Unfortunatly, larvae keep dying with water changes. In the future, I'll make sure I have a natural setup ready for them so water changes are kept to a minimum. I only have 2 larvae left now, so I've lost 15 in the course of regular waterchanges...bummer.

 

[taherman]

Coen,

Very sorry to hear that. If it helps, I used mostly reverse osmosis water for water changes, as water in their natural environment is often soft and acidic. Buffering the water with peat may help. I lost several larvae as well shortly after hatching, not exactly sure why. The metamorphs seem very robust and eager to feed. Good luck with your last two and hopefully better luck next year.
-Tim

 

[coendeurloo]

Coen,

Very sorry to hear that. If it helps, I used mostly reverse osmosis water for water changes, as water in their natural environment is often soft and acidic. Buffering the water with peat may help. I lost several larvae as well shortly after hatching, not exactly sure why. The metamorphs seem very robust and eager to feed. Good luck with your last two and hopefully better luck next year.
-Tim

Thanks for the tips Tim, I'm pretty sure next year will be much better as I've learned a lot from this surprise spawning....

Currently I'm doing some more research on the H. scutatum as I will be doing a reading about them on the annual dutch salamander society meeting...Pretty nervous about that.