Cynops Orientalis - Egg laying or just practise?

[Aplestris]

Hi
I have kept a group of 5 Cynops Orientalis adults for about 4 months and today I just found one of them (which I think is a female) clasping a leaf with her hindlegs as if she was laying an egg upside. She is very chubby, about 1.25 or 1cm at widest and has been so for a week or so. But anyway I looked in the leaves when she had moved away and I could find no egg. I am 95% sure she was egg laying, I have seen Lissotriton breed in the wild and apparently the behavior is similar. I did check if it fell off but I still couldn't find anything.
Currently she is sitting in the same plants again but does not seem to be egg laying.
So was she just practicing or something? Is she probably gravid?

 

[Jennewt]

I've seen female newts clasp a leaf like that and not actually lay an egg. Either she's just practicing, or just wasn't quite ready. If you have a male, there's a good chance you'll get eggs (or already have them, well-hidden).

 

[Aplestris]

Thankyou for your reply
She is just in the plants at the moment and has been for hours but she doesn't seem to be laying. I can see other leaves which seem to be bent over but are not concealing any eggs as far as I can see. I will check on them more often to collect any eggs (if any are laid).

Another member of Caudata has sexed one of the newts as a male on another thread. I have seen him chase after the female/s but most of them seem to smell each other.

 

[Azhael]

It´s very common for females to "practice" for a while before starting to lay consistently. It´s also possible that she is laying, but then the eggs are being eaten shortfly after, although it´s unlikely they would get to every egg before you could see any.

 

[Aplestris]

Thankyou Azhael :happy: The newts are quite ravenous so it could be a possibility.
I saw another one of my newts doing the same thing but not properly folding the leaf. There was no egg laid with that newt too.
Is there anything I could do to help them or should I just wait? I turned the filter off because the currents swayed the top of the plants where the two newts stay and practice egg laying so it's more calm for them.
And are they more likely to lay eggs at night or can it be at any time with C.Orientalis? The tank isn't very bright unless there is sunshine throughout the whole day.
I am quite surprised that they seem to be beginning to breed because they are Wild Caught (I did not know at the time of purchase) and were quite stressed out at first (although I know most newts/salamanders are.)

 

[Azhael]

If you have turned the filter off, just go ahead and take it out, it´s useless. This species much prefers still water so they´ll benefit from substituting the filter by large amounts of live plants.

H. orientalis is likely to lay mainly at night, but they can do so at any time.
It´s not all that suprising for WC animals to breed soon after purchase provided that they adapt sufficiently well. They are likely to be collected while on breeding condition, which becomes inhibited by the stress and bad conditions of the importation process. Once the conditions improve, breeding condition can be resumed. Successful, extended breeding usually requires optimal conditions, though.

 

[Aplestris]

Thankyou again Azhael :happy:
Actually the plants seem to shed a lot of leaves so I attached a pipe with slits to the filter so the water just flows back towards the glass of the tank and minimizes the movement of the water.
Anyway I am 100% that at least two and perhaps three of the newts are 'practicing'. Considering the 1st sighting was 5 days ago, shouldn't they be egg laying now? On another site I read that eggs are laid about three days after mating in Cynops Orientalis.
I have found a few leaves that look like they have been bent by the newts, but only a couple which looked as if they contained anything because they stuck together. I found nothing in any of them though.
And I've heard of using plastic strips for egg laying sites, would plastic bags from supermarkets cut up be fine?
I have uploaded some more pictures of the tank and newts in my Chinese Fire Belly Newt album, some should be in this post.
The left side of the tank (It is very dim most of the time because the light bulb has gone but I will replace it soon) The plants on the left are where the newts seem to like to practice almost always)
This is the right side. The plant cluster behind the rock is also a practice area.