Tylototriton kweichowensis bred

michael

2010 Research Grant Donor
Joined
Apr 12, 2003
Messages
3,425
Reaction score
172
Points
63
Location
Ephrata,Pa
Country
United States
Display Name
Michael Shrom
I finally decided to put that turtle dock in my T. kweichowensis tank. When I went to take the cork bark out of the tank it was covered with eggs. I kind of expected them to lay in the water or under something. They laid on top of the wet cork bark. Now I have to figure what's next. I think I'll just float the cork bark in another tank and leave it at that.
The real funny thing is I just bought a bunch of other kweichowensis last week as back up.
 
Congratulations Michael. You and Paris are going to cause me to have egg envy!
Chip
 
hey mike-what temps you been keeping them at? did you see any courting at all? do the eggs look viable? (my shanjings turned out to be duds....
cry.gif
chip-so no envy there....)
 
Thanks for the congrats but the animals did the work. i keep the basement pretty cold. I have been bouncing the temp back and forth between 62F and 75F. I had it up to 75 for a couple days and decided to lower it for the axolotls. I think the T. kweichowensis were triggered when I lowered the temp again. Maybe it was a coincidence. Their are 80 to 100 eggs. They look fresh. I only saw cell devision in a handfull.
I did get some heaters for the Tylototriton tanks but have now decided to keep things a little cool and see what happens.
 
Congratulations Mike, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy ;). Just don't be surprised if you're the envy of Tylototriton fans around the world.
 
Congrats Mike!

I now wish I'd allowed my pair of kweichows more of a chance to breed, but their half-land, half-water "breeding tank" was usurped earlier this month by some nominate C. ensicauda that I brought back with me from the Amami Islands.

How are you planning to keep the eggs? If they're anything like E. andersoni, they'll require regular misting (being kept out of the water).

I'll try and get some tips for you from somebody I know who has bred T. kweichowensis
wink.gif
 
As far as I know, hatching should be aquatic for safety, and rearing is the same as shanjing and verrucosus, just aim to have them metamorphose as large as possible.
 
I must confess... I was a bit skeptical (though always hopeful) of your plans to breed shanjing and kweichows. Call me convinced! Congratulations!!!
 
I found some more eggs in the water. I'm floating the cork bark in a sweater box and misting once or twice a day. The cork bark is pretty saturated and the eggs should be able to draw moisture through it. I'm putting the eggs that are in the water in another sweater box. I can see cleavage in more eggs than before. I'll probably take some pictures but am not good at posting them.

That's odd Ms. Newt. I didn't take you to be a skeptic. I felt that with as much time and effort as I am putting into Tylototriton I would breed some of them. My shanjing are at a friends house but I still have the kweichowensis, verrocusus, and taliangensis. I think the taliangensis will be the hardest to breed.

I am thrilled with my collection and the progress I have made with it by luck and the help of some Caudata.org, Xfrog, and Dendroboard people.
 
Michael,
I am curious as to why you think that the taliangensis will be more difficult to breed? Also, your original post inspired me to search my kweichow vivarium thoroughly - unfortunately no eggs were found but I do have more hope now.
Chip
 
Taliangensis are flat little things. My guess is they don't lay as many eggs as those big old fat kweichwensis. Their don't seem to be as many healthy specimens of taliangensis in the U.S. as some of the other Tylototriton.
 
Mike, there's no reason not to keep the kweichowensis eggs aquatic to hatching.
 
I certainly wouldn't doubt that
wink.gif


And Mike, my mention of E. andersoni eggs being kept out of the water was not intended as advice for dealing with T. kweichowensis eggs -- just a piece of info. I was told that it is even possible to keep E. andersoni eggs aquatic to hatching, the downside to this being that they are then more prone to fungal attack.

It's a shame you can't post pictures for us...

I seem to recall John had long ago posted a whole series of pics of T. kweichowensis (?) egg and/or larvae development but I failed to find the pics in the photo gallery...
 
Re: photo series: Shanjing and Verrucosus yes, not kweichowensis.
 
I wasn't skeptical of you, personally, Michael. But I know of plenty of people who've tried (with varying levels of expertise and effort) to breed the terrestrial Tyloto species. I've heard of VERY few people succeeding, and usually only after years of keeping them. It seems that T. verrucosus are the only ones that are fairly "easy", if I judge by the stories I've heard.

I hope you can take some photos. If you have trouble posting, I'd be happy to post them for you.
 
Awesome news Michael. Kweichows are fast becoming my favorite Tylo species. I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding good homes for the offspring when the time comes.

Paris- Sorry to hear about the duds. Perhaps you should try feeding an aphrodisiac like oyster to your male shanjings to get them "in the mood"
biggrin.gif
 
Hey Mike,
Big time, Congrats. No luck on my end, I suspect that I did not get them cold enough this winter to fully cycle.
If the off spring are like the shanjing in the Zoos then they should be a lot easier to breed than the wc adults.

Ed
 
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    Chat Bot: punchluvr has left the room. +1
    Back
    Top