Ranitomeya ventrimaculata - Breeding Thread

[Strider18]

Knowing Paul and all of the mods, it is almost guaranteed that he had his supplementation down If i'm wrong Paul, feel free to correct me

0.0.1 PCf
Soon to come 0.0.4 Phyllobates bicolor

[DigitalPunk]

For the sake of having a complete thread here is my supplementation rotation

Monday - Calcium w/D3 (RepCal)
Tuesday - Supervite (Repashy)
Wednesday - Calcium w/D3 (RepCal)
Thursday - Supervite (Repashy)
Friday - Calcium Plus (Rapashy)
Saturday - Supervite (Repashy)
Sunday - Calcium w/D3 (RepCal)

I also do Repashy Vitamin A every 1st and 15th. Though in fairness that (the Vit A) has not been for more than the last couple months.

I personally feel like the struggle has been part the frogs figuring things out and part learning curve on my part. These are the first frogs I have had lay eggs for me. I have also read that Vents breed better in groups, but sadly I only have 2 (I had 2 escape from a new tank due to a design flaw... very sad).

I have been tweaking the sites for the eggs a little after each clutch and think I have it dialed in now. Most of the failures I have been able to associate with either not enough water or 1 or 2 bad eggs ruining the rest after they begin to mold.

[derezzed]

I hope I didn't come across as though I was questioning someone's abilities as I was just trying to help.

Anyway... its good to see you at least have a couple good eggs going for you. Hopefully they'll stay strong.

I also do Repashy Vitamin A every 1st and 15th. Though in fairness that (the Vit A) has not been for more than the last couple months.

This could be the problem. While supervite and calcium plus both have preformed Vit A it is not really enough to provide breeders with their needs in the long term. Generally if Vitamin A has been lacking for a little while it is recommended to step up the frequency for a short period of time. This is because Vitamin A is fat-soluble and the frog will actually store it in their tissues. If the frogs were never really able to get their stores up in the first place, the addition of a regular schedule of vitamin A may not do much since they are actively laying and basically already depleting the new addition. I would recommend dusting once a week for 3-4 weeks to help establish a larger store of Vitamin A in the frogs' tissue.

I personally feel like the struggle has been part the frogs figuring things out and part learning curve on my part. These are the first frogs I have had lay eggs for me. I have also read that Vents breed better in groups, but sadly I only have 2 (I had 2 escape from a new tank due to a design flaw... very sad).

This likely isn't the issue. When people say vents breed better in groups they are generally just referring to the frequency of mating/eggs. Introducing a bit more competition will get them going much more often than just keeping a pair, it won't affect the viability of their eggs when they do actually lay

I have been tweaking the sites for the eggs a little after each clutch and think I have it dialed in now. Most of the failures I have been able to associate with either not enough water or 1 or 2 bad eggs ruining the rest after they begin to mold.

Laying sites shouldn't affect viability of the eggs either. I have had successful eggs in all sorts of conditions (wet/dry/hot/cool) and in all sorts of places (leaf litter, on the glass, on a stick, in film canisters, in bromeliads, on broad leaves, you name it). If the humidity is proper in the tank, they shouldn't really need to be in any water. Also, bad eggs molding shouldn't affect good eggs. You are likely just seeing issues with all of the eggs and it's just that some are showing signs of it sooner than others.

Hope that helps...

[flybyferns]

Nice post ....Welcome ' back' to Frog Forum

Don't worry about it.

We, ( ) can take it .........

Paul has lots of great ideas ... they'll breed

~~ I believe the Vit A will finally begin to work

~~~ adding additional vents with the pair to create a group would be fun

~~~~I agree regarding the egg deposit sites they choose. In fact, I think they are better off w/ a variety of water levels in the canisters. They'll take care of the eggs.

~~~~~ And , I agree regarding the mold. I don't always get 100% egg development from my variabilis. Imitators, yes ; but the varis. I never remove the bad eggs. The developing tads 'free swim' right around them.

There WILL be vents tads!

[DigitalPunk]

I only hypothesize the bad eggs were affecting the good eggs because I have lost a couple of developing eggs in previous clutches. The developing eggs would start to show the tadpole forming and then the egg would mold over like the others.

I do not feel comfortable stepping up the Vit A that I am introducing into the tanks. With the small amounts provided with the Supervite and Cal plus I am hoping there is enough going around to keep them going strong. I do not want to even get close to ODing the frogs with Vit A.

I agree with a variety of sites as well. I have 5 canisters in the tank at various heights and angles. I am being careful to not get to much misting water in them and am flushing them with fresh distilled water once every 2 days (this probably isn't needed, but doing it for now). The canisters vary in water depth, the vents are favoring the canisters with more water in them. This last clutch was laid with the vents down in the water up to their noses. They have a brom in the tank that they sleep in, but they have not deposited any eggs in it yet.



I am also fairly certain I am over thinking all of this at this point, but it is in my nature to obsess to an unhealthy level on the details and research constantly. I appreciate any and all input

Paul

[DigitalPunk]

One of the Tads started wiggling around tonight. Managed to get a couple of real short videos. The other developing eggs doesn't look so good right now. Still holding out some hope.


https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...ages_video_set

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...ages_video_set

[DigitalPunk]

I struggled with humidity in the frog room for a week or so. The temperature outside bottomed out and the space heater was killing me. I would make sure the eggs had water on them at 2:00am and by the time I woke up at 8am the water around the eggs would be nearly dried up. (it was totally gone a couple times). This fight with humidity cost me 9 eggs over the course of a couple weeks.

The last clutch they laid was with 5 eggs. I left the eggs in the canister for 7-10 days (or until the early signs of development started). I then moved them to a petri dish that I placed on the floor of the vivarium to use the high humidity in the tank to my advantage.

Here is what they look like as of this afternoon.




I have the tadpole station for these eggs all setup and ready to go!

[DigitalPunk]

Quick update on eggs. I decided to not post pictures of the failures because... well we have enough of those in this thread already lol.

The 11 in the tank started to fail. I was able to salvage 2 eggs from the canister before the mold got to them. Here are a few pictures of them.


Egg 1



Egg 2



Egg 1



Egg 2




Also had a new clutch deposited today.


Deposited on 12/15/14

[LilyPad]

Yayyyyyyyy!!!! Congrats!!! Can't wait to watch them turn into little froglets! Please keep posting pics of their development, those are some of my faves.