chinese fire belly newt eggs?

Question
I cleaned the aquarium of newest addition to our family and I found 3 "jelly covered white balls" in one of the plants.  "Jeffrey" is about 3 inches from tip to tip and has been solo for a little over a month.  Is he a male or a female and do newts lay eggs whether or not they have a mate to fertilize them?

Answer
Hello Johanna, the eggs take a good 2 weeks (give or take a couple days) to hatch and you should know by then if they are fertile or not.

Most female CFB newts are carrying eggs when they are still in the pet store actually and it is common for them as soon as finding a good lay site to lay them.

A female can also lay 50-200 eggs being a few a day. This is where it can get tricky.

Jeffrey is female so maybe a Jess instead of Jeff would be a good idea. Although I don't think she minds having a male name.

I do not know a lot about the breeding of these particular animals but what I need to know is do you intend on trying to get these eggs to hatch? Or are you curious on why you have eggs if you only have the one?

Like I said many females get (lets use this word) "pregnant" with mating males in the pet store. Then the pet store will not provide good laying sites (plants) and then when they come home with you they start to lay.

I can give you some links on egg care if it helps and you want to try to hatch these newts.

http://www.grizzlyrun.com/Pets/Amphibians/Newts/Fire_Bellied_Newt/Default.htm
(scroll down on the link above. The breeding section is near the bottom)

Remember that the mom might eat the eggs so you might have to take them out and try to incubate them in their own container.


Sorry I couldn't be of any more help. Good luck and let me know how it goes.