How to get older C. pyrhh to breed again

[Molch]

I've had my 4 C. pyrrhogaster for 13 years. Several years ago I bred them after I hibernated them in a moss-filled crate at 40 F for about 2 months.

Then I moved to Nome and started a new job, where until this summer I had no electricity at home, so the newts lived in a tank at my office, where I didn't have the space to set up a breeding operation etc - long story short, for the last 5 years they've just had a cooler (ca. 55 F) but aquatic period during winter but have not bred.

Now I got power at home and the newts have moved back in with me. I'd like to get these old chaps into breeding mode again. They are healthy and plump, but I fear they may have forgotton how to make babies .

Do you think another moss-crate hibernation will get them back into breeding mode? How do all of you hibernate this species?

 

[Greatwtehunter]

My C. pyrrhogaster are kept aquatic year round with just a temperature drop and more feedings during the winter time. This has been sufficient enough to get mine to breed.

 

[Joost]

Just do the same way you bred these before. They certainly won't 'forget' how it has to be done. A drop of temerature for 8-12 weeks will do fine in most cases.

 

[fabian]

Hi,
I give my pyrrhogaster a cold aquatic period ar about 12°C (53°F) that lets them breed every year.
But before this I ´had a problem perhaps related to yours:
I had two females from the sasayamae race, bought a male from a pet shop (this was long ago, i wouldn't do this now!), the male fertilized the females and died. I raised the offspring and kept one male and one female. Than I had a longer period of about five years in which I couldn't give them a cooler winter-period, I didn't bother, because I wasn't fond of breeding in this time. Then I got a bigger flat with a cold basement and tried to bring them to breeding again. Every spring I saw a lot of tail fanning by the male, the females seemed to be interested, but all I got was a few not fertilzed eggs. After three years of trying I gave away my male and got another one, did the same as the years before and bred them every year since then.
I'm not sure what was the problem, one thing I recogniced was that the not effective male did'nt put his hind leg on the top of the females head while fanning (this is typical for sasayamae), the new one does this. I can't remember what the father of the not effective male did, but why should he act different than his son? The guy I gave my old male told me, he gave it to an friend of him and it bred there.

So perhaps a little "fresh blood" will help to get your animal back to breeding!?

Greetz
Fabian

 

[slatera]

Hi,
I have not kept C. pyrrhogaster for a long time, however, I never had trouble breeding them in the past. I always gave then a terrestrial cool period durig the natural winter months in UK, treating them the same as UK species. In the winter they were in a cool north facing conservatory, in a tank with leafmould substrate, moss adn natural logs and leaf litter from native deciduous woodland, and temps would go down to between 5-10 centigrade.They suffered no ill effect and always fed well, etc. on re-emerging. Males always coloured up and went into breeding mode when temperatures warmed up.

I never had a sophisticated set up for aquatic phase (no filters), just plenty of native pond plants and occasional partial water changes with rainwater only.OPnce eggs were laid, I took these out with the receptor plants and reared larvae separately.

From all the stuff I read on this site, it seems many people are afraid of a more naturalistic set up and approach to managing this species. Just think like a newt... success will follow! The also did fine in an outdoor enlosure with ond, until an itinerant grass snake helped itself to a ready meal!
Best wishes, Andrew

 

[Molch]

Andrew - how long did you hibernate them thus? I'm fattening mine up currently to get them ready for maybe 6 weeks of cool period in my storage room (also about 5-10 celsius).

However, yesterday I saw one male tail-fanning a female. His coaka is all ready and his colors are lighening up, and he pursued her trying to put his big fat foot on her head for courtship. She, however, wanted nothing to do with him. I feel they may still have to hibernate esp. for the females to get ready...but what do I know!

 

[Molch]

I should add that I have another male, who has never in the past and does not now show any signs of being interested in breeding. His cloaka is small like a female's and he's never shown any courtship. So go figure. If there's going to be any hoochie in this tank, it'll have to be Mr. Bigfoot again...

 

[slowfoot]

I've never gotten my C. pyrrhogaster to breed successfully (the eggs are always duds), but they have laid a lot of eggs. In addition to the drop in temps, my females always needed a bunch of aquatic plants and suitable egg-laying sites in order to start laying. So you might want to add a bunch of good egg-laying plants like anacharis, which is the one my newts prefer over all others.

 

[Azhael]

Well, it´s weird that they aren´t breeding, this species is usully not at all fussy about breeding in captivity, sometimes not even requiring a significant drop in temps.
Erin makes a good point, if there are no suitable egg-laying substrated the females may simply reabsorb the eggs. For me, java fern works best, specially the young plants that grow vegetatively from maure plants.
A good diet is also important, not just quantity but quality too.
It´s particularly weird that a male doesn´t ever go into breeding condition. They can have very long breeding periods in captivity, up to 7-8 months of the year even.
Maybe he is too old? Or perhaps you have a mixed group with different subspecies and that´s caussing acceptance issues? I really don´t know...

 

[Jennewt]

Molch - it's great that your male is courting. It's normal for the female to act uninterested most of the time. It wouldn't surprise me if you got eggs even before you attempt the hibernation. At this point, it all depends on the condition of the female.

Erin - how many male pyrrhogaster do you have? It sounds like the females are ready, but the male isn't doing his job for some reason. Is there ever courtship?

 

[slowfoot]

Erin - how many male pyrrhogaster do you have? It sounds like the females are ready, but the male isn't doing his job for some reason. Is there ever courtship?

I'm starting to think that I actually have 3 females: two have always laid eggs, but I just assumed that the skinniest one (which has never laid) is male. I've never seen courtship. I've had two of these newts (one female, and the skinny one) for 20 years, but the 2nd female was given to us a couple of years ago. All three live with my sister now. She says the two large newts lay eggs every winter/spring, but the skinny newt never does.

It would be nice if I could find a real male for the two ladies

 

[Joost]

I'm starting to think that I actually have 3 females: two have always laid eggs, but I just assumed that the skinniest one (which has never laid) is male. I've never seen courtship. I've had two of these newts (one female, and the skinny one) for 20 years, but the 2nd female was given to us a couple of years ago. All three live with my sister now. She says the two large newts lay eggs every winter/spring, but the skinny newt never does.

It would be nice if I could find a real male for the two ladies

Can you add a picture of these animals? It's not that difficult to see their gender. At least the age shouldn't be a problem for breeding.

 

[Azhael]

I agree, males are usually pretty obvious. A picture would most likely clarify the sex.

 

[slowfoot]

I'll see if I can get my sister to take a few pictures. (Sorry for the thread hijack!)

I do think the plants are pretty important for laying. I visited my sister a few years ago and decided to upgrade the newt tank - they had no plants and just a few rocks. Literally, as soon as I put the first plants in the water, the females grabbed them and began laying.