How do I deal with continuous batches of babies? Help!

[lunarisplendere]

Hi all!

I have had my pair of chinese firebellies for about 10 years now. And for the past 2 years the female has been laying eggs. I raised the first batch up to adulthood, kept some, and gave the rest to the pet store. So now I have 10 newts. :happy:

But my original pair have continued to lay eggs. After reading a lot posts on here over the years, I assumed that the eggs would be eaten by the other adults in the tank, but they just leave them be. I've been removing them (the ones that I find), but more often than not I miss tons of them because my tank is heavily planted. Even when I do nothing to help the babies, they grow up just fine because my tank has a lot of microorganisms for them to eat.

I don't mind raising them up and giving them to the pet store when they are older, but even the best pet store in my area does not take care of their newts very well. I gave them 30 babies two weeks ago and when I went yesterday, they only had 3 left. There is no way that they sold that many that quickly. It is just so frustrating. I even told them how to care for them. I've tried posting ads for people looking for newts in my area, and I was only successful once (he took 10 of them).

Anyway. I'm just trying to figure out what to do. I could separate the two parents, but I want to know if there are any other options. I know that adding fish to the tank is discouraged, but would an appropriate fish (white cloud mountain minnows) or shrimp eat the eggs for me? Are there other options?

Thanks, everyone!

 

[lunarisplendere]

Oops, I'm sorry you guys. I accidentally posted this in the axolotl section instead of the regular newt/salamander section. Can someone help me delete/move it?

 

[Asevernnnn]

If you're willing to ship, you might wanna consider posting a for sale ad for some(eggs, juveniles, etc as long as they're CB)

 

[lunarisplendere]

Hi Aaron! Thanks!

I have posted on this site in the past. I feel like perhaps chinese firebellies are not in high demand online since they can be found so easily in pet shops. But I will try again!

What do you do when your newts/salamanders lay eggs?

 

[Asevernnnn]

I would remove them from the tank and put them into another tank, and remove any duds as you see them.
It might not be as hard to sell them on here as you think, since buying from petshops aren't a good way of acquiring newts and everyone encourages to find a breeder instead of buying petshop newts as they are wild caught and often taken care of completely wrong and often die within a few days, or refuse water and food

Heres a link to a list of great articles and one on how to raise newts from eggs.
Caudata Culture Articles
Caudata Culture Articles - Raising Newts and Salamanders from Eggs

 

[JM29]

Hi,

Unfortunately, chinese firebellies are one of the most often found species in the petshops. I cant imagine the amount of these newts which leave China to live or die all over the world. I hope one day exchanges between enthusiasts will stop that.

If I were you :
- I will continue keeping one or two young each year, Dont get rid of all your youngs because one day your breeding adults will stop breeding.
- I will try to find some other keepers for this species to make exchanges,
- For the extra eggs, you dont need a fish. The adult newts will eat the eggs if you dont take them out the tank.

In France, we have begun to constitute such groups per species.

Kind regards