Fuzzy newt eggs

[gerard]

One of my two broken-striped newts seems to have laid eggs all over the place. The eggs are tucked into hornwort and Java fern plants. The fronds and leaves of the plants seen to be sort of curled around the eggs, just like the books say. To me, the eggs look sort of fuzzy. Is this normal for newt eggs? I'd guess they must have some kind of mucous coating, if the female can curl plant leaves around the eggs. Or might the eggs be fungused? I just noticed them tonight, but don't know when they were laid.

 

[kaysie]

if they look like they have actual fuzz on them, its a fungus and should be tossed immediately.

 

[jennifer]

Jerry - do you have a male? If not, then the eggs are certainly infertile and the fuzz is fungus. Normal eggs would be clear with a white sphere in the center.

 

[gerard]

I think I have two females. I just got them in December, so I thought the fertilization might have occurred before I got them. My understanding is that they mate in the fall (usually) and then the female lays eggs in the spring; is this right?

A funny thing: the two newts (which I believe to be females because they both have skinny hind legs) were acting very "sexy" with each other about a week before I noticed the eggs. Undulating their bodies, sniffing each others' ventral areas, etc. The pregnant one (which was very fat at the time) was acting especially lascivious. Does this mean anything, or are these just really confused newts?

 

[kaysie]

confused? horny? normal? dogs sniff each other's butts no matter what. could be you have lesbian newts. or one's actually a male and you dont know it. but lesbians would be much more interesting. lol

 

[jennifer]

They mate in the spring and lay eggs within days of mating. Some species can store sperm for a long time. I'm not sure about these guys but it's pretty unlikely. I don't have any explanation for the lascivious behavior. I've seen a female amplex (grasp in mating position) another female, so I think females can sometimes get a little confused.