Successful Breeding of Greater Siren (Siren lacertina)!!!!!!!

[meteordemon]

Hey everyone, I did it!!!!! Uve successfully gotten my greater sirens to lay about 150 eggs!!!! Let's pray that they are viable!!!!

 

[Chinadog]

Congratulations, Good luck raising the larvae!

 

[Bellabelloo]

Many congratulations to you.
Could you tell us a little more please ?

 

[meteordemon]

Update: The eggs appear to be viable!!

It took a while for the mods to approve the post, sorry for the delay, here's how I accomplished this:

Habitat: The basis of their setup is a 250-300 gallon aquarium in my backyard (I live in Northern California) with a mesh top. The tank is covered in very densely planted Water Hyacinth & Water Lettuce with water lily tubers on the sand substrate. The eggs were deposited in the roots of the water lily, entangled in peat from the hyacinth. The tank notably has a slow leak (slower than evaporation) and is often just a little over half full with hyacinth roots reaching ~12 inches down to the sand. The sirens primarily eat the vegetation, but I throw in sinking pellets and feeder goldfish from time to time. I also have 2 small (rated for 50 gallons each) heaters in the tank set to 55, just to ensure it doesn't get too cold and freeze over. Some interesting things I have observed are that they do engage in biting behavior as a courtship mechanism. The male seems unharmed, however the female has 7 or 8 bite marks along the side of her body, with a couple of them lightly penetrating the skin. She is being observed closely to ensure her health, and I have a water tank ready in the event of an emergency separation. I have also observed both parents tending to the nest. Interestingly, the male spends a majority of the time coiled around the nest as opposed to the female, which is notable as I have read that the female typically guards the nest.

The eggs only showed signs of viability today, approximately 5 days after they were laid. The eggs that are developing are part of the batch that I separated from the nest for close observation. It is difficult to see into the tank, but I will report more info on how the eggs in the original nest fare compared to the separated ones.

Let me know if you have any specific questions? This has been an amazing experience for me and I would love so spread any and all knowledge

 

[PhilbertCoffee]

Amazin :d

 

[MnGuy]

Wow; that's awesome. Congratulations. Please keep us posted with pictures and information as things develop. Good luck.

 

[meteordemon]

Hey all, just wanted to update! Its day 13 and a vast majority of the eggs are doing well! Eyes should start forming soon =) maybe 15 duds so far, but they are extremely easy to spot and remove without hurting other eggs.

 

[Gregg L. Friedman MD]

Hey everyone, I did it!!!!! Uve successfully gotten my greater sirens to lay about 150 eggs!!!! Let's pray that they are viable!!!!

Wow! Congratulations, I have been trying, without success, since 1972, to breed Greater Sirens. I think that your idea to put water hyacinth and a soft sand substance on the bottom of the tank was great. I live in South Florida and the wild Greater Sirens love to hunt for food in the water hyacinth at night and hide themselves in the soft sand during the daytime. They also seem to love a large size tank like you set up for them. They are also excellent escape artists so a good tank cover is a must. I wish you all the best and I hope that your Siren larvae are doing well. By Gregg L. Friedman MD

 

[meteordemon]

Hey everyone, I have no idea if this thread is being followed, but I'd figure I'd leave an update at least for the sake of documentation!

First off, the sirens were/ are extremely healthy and relatively easy to raise! My initial estimate of 150 eggs was wildly low. In all, counted 1 by 1, there were just over 1200 eggs, of which probably 90% hatched. I chose to remove all of the eggs from the parents' tank and raised them in a 5 gallon bucket with water from the same tank, and an air stone beneath the egg mass. I only had the skill and resources setup to raise about 150 of them, which I have sold/rehomed in the past years. I still have about 10 that I'm holding onto, at 2 years they are all a little over a foot long, with one outlier who is nearly 20 inches. Several people who I've sold to claim theirs' are 2 foot long now, and it appears food availability/ competition affect their growth rate significantly.

Since this time, I have also managed to breed Siren intermedia and Pseudobranchus striatus! I am working on a website/blog dedicated to caring for and breeding aquatic salamanders where I'm compiling all of my husbamdry information as well as breeding and young-rearing techniques. I will post again here when the site is online!

 

[Roughskinned]

What an incredible thread! We dont get enough of these, and great idea for a website! This group of salamanders doesnt get enough attention. Id have them if I had the money for a setup that big! Although the dwarf sirens are very intriguing...

 

[Tim Nospondyl]

Hey everyone, I have no idea if this thread is being followed, but I'd figure I'd leave an update at least for the sake of documentation!

First off, the sirens were/ are extremely healthy and relatively easy to raise! My initial estimate of 150 eggs was wildly low. In all, counted 1 by 1, there were just over 1200 eggs, of which probably 90% hatched. I chose to remove all of the eggs from the parents' tank and raised them in a 5 gallon bucket with water from the same tank, and an air stone beneath the egg mass. I only had the skill and resources setup to raise about 150 of them, which I have sold/rehomed in the past years. I still have about 10 that I'm holding onto, at 2 years they are all a little over a foot long, with one outlier who is nearly 20 inches. Several people who I've sold to claim theirs' are 2 foot long now, and it appears food availability/ competition affect their growth rate significantly.

Since this time, I have also managed to breed Siren intermedia and Pseudobranchus striatus! I am working on a website/blog dedicated to caring for and breeding aquatic salamanders where I'm compiling all of my husbamdry information as well as breeding and young-rearing techniques. I will post again here when the site is online!

Just happened on this thread and I'm fascinated. Any news on the website and your sirens?

 

[meteordemon]

Hello! I'm surprised and happy that this thread has kept interest for so long! I have my blog/website up, although it is still a work in progress. I have articles up on keeping and breeding several species of siren, and will eventually include my husbandry approaches for all my aquatic species! The greater sirens continue to thrive - ive held onto about 10 of them, all between 1 and 2 feet now, about the same width as a quarter ($0.25). I've also managed to breed both dwarf and lesser sirens since this was posted! Now if only can source some reticulated sirens!
.

Salamantra

Care guides for Aquatic Salamanders Siren, Necturus, Mudpuppy. Breeding, husbandry, and identification.

www.salamantra.org

 

[Tim Nospondyl]

Hello! I'm surprised and happy that this thread has kept interest for so long! I have my blog/website up, although it is still a work in progress. I have articles up on keeping and breeding several species of siren, and will eventually include my husbandry approaches for all my aquatic species! The greater sirens continue to thrive - ive held onto about 10 of them, all between 1 and 2 feet now, about the same width as a quarter ($0.25). I've also managed to breed both dwarf and lesser sirens since this was posted! Now if only can source some reticulated sirens!
.

Salamantra

Care guides for Aquatic Salamanders Siren, Necturus, Mudpuppy. Breeding, husbandry, and identification.

www.salamantra.org

Brilliant. This is top shelf, keep up the good work.

 

[tswaterdog]

Hello! I'm surprised and happy that this thread has kept interest for so long! I have my blog/website up, although it is still a work in progress. I have articles up on keeping and breeding several species of siren, and will eventually include my husbandry approaches for all my aquatic species! The greater sirens continue to thrive - ive held onto about 10 of them, all between 1 and 2 feet now, about the same width as a quarter ($0.25). I've also managed to breed both dwarf and lesser sirens since this was posted! Now if only can source some reticulated sirens!
.

Salamantra

Care guides for Aquatic Salamanders Siren, Necturus, Mudpuppy. Breeding, husbandry, and identification.

www.salamantra.org

I remember when your greater sirens laid those eggs, from the Facebook group. Had not been back here in a long time and am thrilled to see that you have the website up, it is fantastic. Enormous respect and appreciation for what you are doing, and a healthy dose of jealousy too! I hope you continue to drop updates here as time goes on, so that other wandering enthusiasts might find it, I look forward to checking your blog regularly. Kudos and props and all that stuff. Keep up the great work!

 

[Nemo]

Hi
How long it took for the sirens to reach sexual maturity? Is it same for lesser sirens as well?

I’m planning on getting group of lesser sirens, any information will be helpful.

TIA.