# My first clutch!! Wahoooo!!



## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

so i'm pretty stoked tonight.... i found 2 eggs attatched to the side of the waterfall tonight from my trio of imitators........they look bad but i'm not for sure....maybe you guys can tell if so or not...? ima leave them overnight and pull in the morning since they are def. almost in my waterfall....i'm suprised they are even clinging on the side with the water running...... Soooo heres a pic.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

leave them, imi eggs are white if Im not mistaken


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

about how long till they should be pulled??? i was going to pull the first couple batches and try to raise them on my own... then leave a batch for the parents to raise....... so i can get the best of both worlds.... haha anyways let me know


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I like to give eggs 48 hours to make sure daddy does his job.Usually it doesnt even take 30 minutes, but better safe then sorry. When youre ready, just get a slurpee straw and remove them into a petri dish


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

thanks so much my friend....you are very helpful  So this makes me laugh because i was looking at the eggs and they are on the vert wall of the waterfall rock...... and i have 7 bromeliads and 5 film canisters in there!!!! you would think they would lay them on a leaf or something haha but w.e. these are easier for me to see thats for sure.... just seems like a odd place to be laying.... my frogs must be livin on the edge yo' or enjoy rock climbing as much as i do


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## bgcabot (Oct 19, 2008)

That's pretty exciting, congrats! I told you they would lay if you gave 'em a little time ;D. Like someone said above, I have had more success leaving eggs in the tank for a few days (2-3) before removing them.


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## colbyrs (Mar 30, 2008)

Thats awesome! I've been eyeing those imi's thinking they would look REAL good in my tank when I get it done! Take good care of those lil guys!


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

I would leave those eggs there if they are good. They look like they'll be tough to safely remove.


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## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

You can pull them, but to be totally honest, I leave all the eggs (only have thumbs) for the male to take care of. Just keep track of where they were laid and you can pull them when they are at day 12 - 14. They seem to be much sturdier when they are nearly developed and over the last 15 years or so I've killed more eggs than the parents have.

Either way, congratulations and good luck!


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

colbyrs said:


> Thats awesome! I've been eyeing those imi's thinking they would look REAL good in my tank when I get it done! Take good care of those lil guys!


sounds prime time colby, your first on the list lol and the imi's are awesome....they are tiny but WAYYYY more bold and active then my other types.... for a 150 though idk.... haha thats a huge tank.... i might recommend some tincs for that beast haha

and the eggs def. look like they will be tough to remove....but the thing is they are on the top rock of the waterfall vertically, like barely touching the water flow... so i worry about when they tad out the waterfall with wash em them down a pretty knarly drop before the males can transport.........  hmmmmmmmm. anyways thanks guys


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

hello again, so i was just curious if i was to take these out in a few days, if i even am able to, the imitators should lay in another 3-5 days right??


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Feed and dust heavy.....egg production is very....depleting.


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

Philsuma said:


> Feed and dust heavy.....egg production is very....depleting.


you lost me by this hahaha... maybe i'm just an idiot but.. what do you mean lol. Egg production is very depleting???


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## bgcabot (Oct 19, 2008)

I'm pretty sure he means that it can be fairly taxing on the frogs' bodies and that they need the extra dietary supplementation in order to replenish the various nutrients that are used in the egg laying/rearing process.


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

yeaaa.. that makes sense.... well i guess i'll just leave all my eggs..... i dont wanna stress em out or anything at all... they are already like 5 years old from he told me so anyways thanks for the advice


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## Malaki33 (Dec 21, 2007)

I have 9 imi tads brewing right now, 2 should be out of the water within the week. You can take those eggs out once they have started to develop (look for the ridge that goes across the egg). I have 6 more eggs as well I am waiting for.

Congrats

Mitch


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## EricM (Feb 15, 2004)

Congratulations.

Imitator are great parents and you don't need to do anything with the eggs/tadpoles. One of the greatest thrills is to "discover" a newly morphed froglet in the tank, so don't rob yourself of that experience by pulling the eggs and raising everything. 

The clutch size and frequency of egg laying is differant with all frogs. Most frogs will follow the traditional bell curve with less eggs and weaker tads at the beginning and end of their reproductive years, having the best in the middle. Also the amount of food and quality of food they have access too directly affects the egg quality.

Think about this, if you pull the eggs as soon as you find them, then the female keeps laying eggs. It takes a lot of energy to produce eggs and over time the egg quality can decrease. So it's better to leave the eggs and let the adults care for them. Overall you will see healthier offspring and at the same time allow the parents to do the behaviors they are programmed to do, and you can enjoy seeing them in action. 

Two cents to ponder
Eric


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

That's just a great post by Eric....well said.


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

hey thanks guys.... i made my decision and figure i'll just leave em...... its what they are meant to do in the wild so i'll just leave em at it...... this thread def. helped me out so thanks guys  
but one thing i still worry about the eggs being washed down the waterfall when they tad out........ or will the parents transport them before that happends? i'll try to get a better pic and show u what i worry about..... its just a long fall if the tads get carried away by the water current....


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

In my opinion...

Pull the first few good eggs and raise them yourself. In my experience, with imi eggs its best to let the get to the point where they almost hatch, then pull them. I think watching tadpoles go through metamorphosis is one of the most rewarding parts of the hobby. And I suspect that about a month after they transport you will be very anxious about the health of the tadpole and try to spy on it too much, scaring the parents in the process. (Or at least that's what happened to me when I left in my first imi tad). The tadpoles seem to take longer to morph if they are raised by their parents than if they are raised on tadpole bites, so by four months you will almost certainly be anxious.

If you pull the first couple tads, you can raise them yourself and watch their progress, and then leave in the rest of the eggs. That way you will be entertained and the parents will still get a chance to raise their own.


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

so i got another clutch today inside a film canister.... and i never took the other eggs out..... so life is good


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

so i noticed this morning that one of the eggs on the waterfall was cloudy.... should i remove it? or atleast try  haha......thanks....


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

cheezus_2007 said:


> so i noticed this morning that one of the eggs on the waterfall was cloudy.... should i remove it? or atleast try  haha......thanks....


It looks like the egg on the bottom might be good so you might remove the bad egg. Just make sure that you don't disturb the good eggs too mugh when you remove it, I suggest sucking out the yolk with a syringe.


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## colbyrs (Mar 30, 2008)

I am sooooo excited for you! It's awesome to know they're doing their thing! Keep those pics comming as much as possible, I'm checking on their progress daily!


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

so i sat in front of my imitator tank a lot of the day drawing and i noticed they have pretty much abandoned the egg on the waterfall..... i've noticed the frogs only taking care of the clutch in the film canister and they are guarding it like crazy.... is it because the other egg is being kept wet from the waterfall and they dont need to keep it moist or do they sometimes do this because i took out the one bad egg? like they really show no interest in it at all?? i'm not too positive what male the female is breeding with because they always seem to be together as a trio or atleast very close to one another... one male calls though and the other doesn't... it just puffs out its thoat and doesn't make noise....does this mean its still young and hasn't found its voice yet? anyways post your thoughts....


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

The eggs on the waterfall may turn out to be bad.......eggs laid on a "less than ideal place" often are, and the waterfall area is too out in the open and not a secure place like a brom or film can.


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