Raising my first newt eggs....Mesotriton alpestris!

ravenous

ravenous

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Just got them in Wed and there they are. Sorry I cant post a closer pic but my camera isnt as good as I thought. Theyre in an empty 1 gallon water jug, in about 1.5 inches of water. Half the water is changed daily and a full one every week, as well as a new water jug. I am using a Aquarium Tap Water Conditioner. Its suppose to Instantly remove chlorine and detoxifies heavy metals in tap water. One drop treats a gallon, so I put it in a 1 gallon water jug and let it sit overnight. I use a turkey baster for water changes.

I also have a whiteworm culture going and it seems to be doing well.

Right now the eggs are sitting next to the tank and Ive been observing em. It looks like some are alot more developed than others as I see alot that are still round and white, where as some have taken that U shape and about 5 are clear defined with a bit of a green color/stripe. Wow!

Thats about it folks. Again these are my first newt eggs and I dont know what to expect. There appears to be about 20 eggs so Im hoping for at least 3-5 survivors. I am reading the Articles and FAQs religiously but if people here have any suggestions, any insights, anything really, please chime in. I hope to be keeping this thread updated frequently. Thanks
 
Update

Had my 2 first losses. The eggs when compared to the others were completley white (as opposed to the white center with a clear surrounding) and appeared to be getting fungus. Shame...
 
No need to worry as you will almost always lose a few eggs like that. The setup looks good. For now I would get your live food cultures in gear and perhaps a tiny water change if you are worried about the eggs.
 
THe whiteworm culture is going good so far. Theres alot more worms that I thought there would be. Just to make sure, when seperating them from the dirt, all I need to do is get like a spoonful and dump it into a glass of water and theyll seperate right? Than just turkey baster em out?

I do my water changes everyday but after reading the article again, it looks like I have to put em in a new container twice per week! I thought I read to do it once. Good thing Im reading everyhting alot.

Update:
Everything looks good. Ive noticed in a few eggs the newt/larvae is moving around and changing position alot. Seems like theyre hot and ready to pop.
 
Update:

Lost another egg to the fuzz. Did a full water change. One looks ready to hatch the next 24 hours. The egg is more oval or long shape and the larvea stretches out.

(Message edited by Ravenous on January 28, 2007)
 
I finished making the last post during the Spurs game and now its over so I checked the eggs, the one I mentioned Hatched!!! Whoa!!!
 
Congrats on the first larva! Don't worry about a few eggs being duds, that's common. Just remove them (being careful not to remove any good ones in the process) to reduce the chances of the mold spreading to any good ones.
 
Thanks Jennifer! Yea Im removing the fuzz eggs as soon as I see em. It can be hard if its on the same branch of several good ones. Like the last I took out was in between 2 good ones.

I did another water change today and so far only the one has hatched. Its moving around alot too because whenever I check em out, its always in a different place. Hes straight and on his stomach all the time. Looking good.
 
5 more eggs hatched today! Thats 6 total. They look alright too, not a one is even on its side and they were moving alot during the water change.
 
Dane Z., it is difficult to tell if you are being supportive, or being totally sarcastic. I just removed 2 replies here that were over the line - Dan had assumed you were being sarcastic. If you are being sarcastic, please refrain from this in the future.

Now, back to discussing newts, please.
 
Yes, bring on the updates! Very interesting! Good luck!
 
i liked your updates.
with each update and the feedback from others helps me with my eggs i hope will have soon.
good luck with the babies
 
Thanks everyone. Though I do wish I coulda read the 2 deleted posts. Its always fun to laugh at those whose lives are so menial they get their jollies by thread crapping. Its all jealousy Im guessing lol

Anyway I officially have 24 hatchings, about 6-10 eggs left and NO deaths. Not bad for 1.5 weeks after arrival.

My biggest problem seems to be seperating the whiteworms from the dirt. When I try they dont really swim around in the watr, just mix themselves in the dirt underwater. So I need a method to seperate em. When I do get some out, they arent bieng eaten. Theyre either too big Im guessing or the newts just arent hungry yet. Anyway, here are some new pics, enjoy.

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(Message edited by jennewt on February 05, 2007)
 
Give it a few days. I would look to getting perhaps brine shrimp, microworms, or daphnia too just in case.
 
don't worry, dan. i'll hopefully be with you in a few days. Jen's givin me some T.marm eggs and i'm as giddy as a schoolgirl.
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Well Chris keep chiming in with updates or start your own thread. Just make sure to supply pics! Im interested in seeing how it all goes
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Yea Joseph I may have to do that in the next few days because:

Update:

Earlier today I lost the first hatchling and just now lost another. They both looked the same as they were striped and had color as well as some yolk left on their bellies. They were normal size and no larger or smaller than the others. They were also from the same jugs

One thing I noticed is that this last one looked eaten.. there were no eyes and the head seemed chewed. The first somewhat resembled this... could they be turning on eachother?

(Message edited by ravenous on February 05, 2007)

(Message edited by ravenous on February 05, 2007)
 
I don't think eating eachother is the reason. Disease maybe...or simply the larvae just died and decayed? I'd wait for Jenn to comment. I had some karelinii hatch, get to a few days old, and then all of them died off and grew fungus. The next batch raised almost indentically resulted in few if any losses.
 
Hmm thats some interesting results. The decay would be a good guess but I had changed the water and they were all swimming around just fine. They werent left alone that long between checkings. I have some Bifuran thats suppose to help the Triturus species so it looks like I have to go in that route.
 
Hi Dan,

changing water daily is contra-productive for the small Triturus. They can not deal with a frequent change of the water too good. I recommend using (old) water from the adults and only to change water all 2 - 3 weeks. You also should use a big watervolume - for 20 Larvae about 25-40 litres. An airpump would be fine too.
I have raised some larvae on Echytraea sp. and they did very well. I just added the earth into the tank too so they had some food and did not die and pest the water. I have some friends who made very good experiences with fresh hatched Artemia. I use always wildcaught Daphnia and Cyclops as food also, and they can even be bred in the tank of the adults. Last year I was surprised by a 5cm alpestris larvae which was hidden in the tank of their T. alp. cyreni and was growing very good. I also never had huge losses using old water with breeding boscai, vulgaris, helveticus and helveticus alonsoi.

Best Greetings,

Kamil
 
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