Cynops orientalis breeding

[TJ]

Here's reporting my successful breeding of Cynops orientalis

Well, I know that's no major accomplishment, but it's a milestone for me anyway...

I walked in the door this afternoon to find this C.orientalis larvae in the corner of the tank ... which was odd because I was never aware they'd laid eggs or were even about to.

There are obviously more eggs in there as I observed the adults trying to eat them (the eggs themselves being too small for me to see with my contacts in).

 

[TJ]

Ah, found em!

 

[alan]

Here are mine

 

[TJ]

Nice going Alan. Here's another pic, this time with a C. orientalis on the right and a C.ensicauda popei egg on the left.

 

[alan]

Nice pics Tim, but I deliberately left my thumb in as a scale bar!

 

[paul]

Congrats Tim,

I like the orientalis very much!

Paul

 

[pin-pin]

These are the orientalis you just got a few months ago and they're already breeding?

Congrats Tim!

The larvae of c.o. are really pretty, although they're so slow. Takes me at least 4 times as long to feed them then the enthusiastic waltls.

here's mine from two weeks ago. they've slowly come to understand that the pipette = food.

 

[TJ]

Hehe, cute, aren't they?

Yep, they're from the two pair I got a month or so ago. The female that's surely laying them seems to have many more on the way so I added some plastic strips in there yesterday. Poor thing, one of her eyes is always closed, though she otherwise seems healthy. A trip to the herp vet seems unavoidable. I've raised orientalis from eggs before, but those were eggs sent to me, not ones I can claim credit for. Alan, since we've never met, you should measure your thumb so I can get a better idea. Or were you using those eggs as a scale bar too?

 

[alan]

Tim,

It's a Standard Biblical thumb, i.e. 1/8 of a cubit (not a metric EuroThumb).

My orientalis are fussy about what they will use as a spawn receiver. They have eschewed my Japanese-style plastic strips and will only spawn on the tips of Java fern leaves, although I did find one egg yesterday on a Vallisneria leaf.

 

[TJ]

Ala, thanks for the clarification

Interesting, I had java moss in there, but I didn't expect they'd lay eggs on it.I had no idea they'd actually favor it! Well, I see a couple more eggs on the moss but none of the plastic strips. Might try some Egeria densa to see how they like it...

 

[alan]

Just to make it absolutely clear, can I remind everyone that:
1 EuroThumb = 0.13247902 foot pound candelas per hectare / kelvin squared
It is important to remember this whenever you need to send your thumb to anyone inside the EuroThumb zone.

As far as egg-deposition is concerned, it's my impression that once a female starts to use a particular plant as a substrate, they tend to prefer that species and are reluctant to move to another type, e.g. Egeria to Java moss. Am I just imagining this, or does anyone else see this too?