T. natans: Trouble giving birth.

[steve]

I currently have three T.natans at the moment, i started out with four, but a few weeks ago one of the females started to give birth but i noticed she was having much difficulty, i also noticed that the babie}s had not turned, as a result i lost her.
This evening i notice that a second female is showing signs that she is ready to give birth and rather than going possibly through the same process again, i was wondering if anyone could offer some advice on the matter i would be most grateful.
regards steve.}

 

[edward]

By turned I'm guessing that you mean that the babies were not born head first? If this is what you are referring to then this is normal. The several births I have seen over the last 10 years or so were all what would be a breech birth in a mammal. As they are a thin basically round larva without shoulders and legs to get bent around and slow the birth process I do not think that this is that big of a problem. In addition being born tail first would help limit damage to the gills as they would not be getting pinned between the caecilians' body and the walls of the mother.

Without a necropsy its a little hard to give you advice on what could be a problem but if you are feeding mainly earthworms and are not feeding the earthworms a calcium rich diet than a calcium deficency could be one of many potential issues with the caecilians as this can affect muscle contractions as well as bone density. Water temp is another potential problem as well as hardness (even though Nate may not agree with me) and they also seem to be sensitive to high levels of nitrates.

Ed