# FINALLY...Our first Terribilis Eggs



## snmreptiles (Feb 26, 2004)

After over 3 and a half years, we got our first eggs from our Mint Terrib's. We bought 6 back in March or 04, and had them in two seperate groups since then. Last week the male (The only one of the 5 that has ever made a peep) was calling up a storm, and a presumed female in the tank next to them seemed very interested. Needless to say we introduced them, and got eggs in less than a week...There were only 8 good ones so it seems, but hopefully quite a few more to come, we will see!!

Mike
http://www.snmreptiles.com


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## Tim (Apr 22, 2007)

GRATS!!! man I love terribilis.

I own sub adult mints,oranges,and yellows. Thay are such cool frogs...


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Congrats! Maybe you should just toss them all into one big tank and enjoy the results lol. 8 is a good start!


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## snmreptiles (Feb 26, 2004)

KeroKero said:


> Congrats! Maybe you should just toss them all into one big tank and enjoy the results lol. 8 is a good start!


That's the plan actually!!  We just haven't had the time to get them a big tank made. We were thinking a 40 breeder would be big enough for 5, what do you think Corey?


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

A 40 gallon breeder will work fine for 5 terribilis.

Bill


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## snmreptiles (Feb 26, 2004)

Cool! Well the first eggs don't look so hot anymore. Oh well, there were 18 more!!  Under the coco hut this time, thank you! And they look really good. He's a ladies man and we just never knew it. 8) 

-Shelley


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

snmreptiles said:


> Cool! Well the first eggs don't look so hot anymore. Oh well, there were 18 more!!  Under the coco hut this time, thank you! And they look really good. He's a ladies man and we just never knew it. 8)
> -Shelley


Terribilis eggs have been boom-or-bust for me :? 
A few years ago I couldn't keep up with all the mint terribilis eggs/tads being produced by my group--of course that was when there was a lull in the market for them. :roll: 
Now that demand has returned, wouldn't it figure that my mints, oranges and yellows are all laying, and all eggs are bad...sigh...trying different methods for dealing with the eggs...
Scott


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

I've really struggled with my orange terribilis eggs as they normally begin to develop and then go bad. Some observations that I've made is that they don't like being too wet and at times the parents will over water them to the point where they go bad.

I think I may have hit on a solution that works (at least for me). I place about 1/2 inch of moist sphagnum moss at the bottom of pre-punched 16 oz. deli cup and then place the covered petri dish on top of the moss. I close the deli cup and leave in place. No further misting of the eggs, etc. 

I have the deli cup out on the open wire rack containing my other petri dishes containing eggs so there is good airflow around it and presumably a small degree of air exchange through the deli cup holes.

I suspect this approach may not work well for some but if you are having trouble with terribilis eggs, might be worth a try. 

In any event, good luck!

Bill


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

elmoisfive said:


> I think I may have hit on a solution that works (at least for me). I place about 1/2 inch of moist sphagnum moss at the bottom of pre-punched 16 oz. deli cup and then place the covered petri dish on top of the moss. I close the deli cup and leave in place. No further misting of the eggs, etc.
> I have the deli cup out on the open wire rack containing my other petri dishes containing eggs so there is good airflow around it and presumably a small degree of air exchange through the deli cup holes.
> I suspect this approach may not work well for some but if you are having trouble with terribilis eggs, might be worth a try.
> In any event, good luck!
> Bill


Thanks Bill, I'll give it a try. Someone today suggested putting a bit of methylene blue in w/ the eggs. I've tried a bunch of things: leaving the eggs in the tanks, slight water in the petri dish, no water in the dish, floating the dish in a cup of water... sounds like your method limits the moisture a bit.
Scott


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## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

Scott, Bill and Shelley,

What you all are describing, I gather, has been the experience of many a hobbiest working with terribilis. Me included.

For me a mist of meth blue on the eggs in a petri dish, and a covered container, works the 'best', but is at best mediocre.

My success rate now is a dismal 20% of eggs, but that is certainly better than the O:200+ I started with the first 6 months of laying. thankfully I've managed to get a few dozen out of the water lately, and they grow very quickly once you do.

I'm gonna use your trick with the next few clutches from my yellow Bill and see what happens for me....and looking forward to some cooler temps as well.

Best to you all, 

S


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

My latest result with my 'weird' approach to terribilis eggs yielded 8 good tads which is a great contrast to the 1 tad or less I was obtaining earlier. Since my terribilis tend to lay fairly small clutches, this works out to ~ 40-50% success rate so I'm excited. Of course I wish I had thought of this earlier...like maybe a year ago 

Bill


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## snmreptiles (Feb 26, 2004)

Well, out of the 18 eggs in the second clutch we have 10 healthy tads, the weird thing is we didn't do anything differently than we do for other tads...??? Beginner's Luck?? Hopefully they'll continue to lay!!

Mike
http://www.snmreptiles.com


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Mike,

Whatever works, take it and run with it. Best of luck.

Bill


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

with terribilis it seems most problems are related to nutrition. that`s the only reason I can think that some clutches make it while most others don`t. If your not feeding the right nutrition you`ll get a coouple tads to make it every once in a while when they sequester enough nutrition to produce a couple healthy tads. I use a method similar to bills and I`ve been getting 100%(well above 90%) since the second clutch on my orange terribilis and get close to 100% off my mints. I feed mostly crickets to them well gutloaded w/ carrots, leafy greens, oranges and organic dogfood. I`ve had terribilis hatch when almost dry or floating in water. There really is no trick to the eggs if they are in the hi end of viable eggs. Eggs can be viable in a range of health states. the ones that disintegrate aren`t healthy clutches. The only time I get partial clutches is when they aren`t fertilized because I ruined the mood by feeding during laying.  
Look twins, 3 sets from my mints


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

I just went downstairs to check on my tads and there was an unhatched terribilis egg in w/ all the hatched tads under 3 inches of water. I thought they were all hatched 2 days ago when I dropped them into their container. I just broke the egg sac on the last tad and it`s doing fine after 2 days in the egg submerged in 3 inches of water.


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## snmreptiles (Feb 26, 2004)

Aaron could have hit something here...We go through about 10,000 crickets a month, and definately understand the importance of gut loading. A lot of people think you can buy the gel from a pet store because it says "Gut Load formula" on it...When the tests were done most had the nutrition of iceburg lettuce...Nada, zip, zilch. We feed our own "Power Mix" if you will, bee pollen, wheat germ, wheat bran, brewers yeast, to name a few of the ingredients. Then also have fresh water in with them at all times, we use water bowls with rocks so they can't drown. There is a great book on gut loading/feeder insects. It's "Thoughts for Food" and I think it's by the chameleon network!

Mike
http://www.snmreptiles.com


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## Tim (Apr 22, 2007)

.




cricket gut load.....



1 large box dry milk (8 quart size)


1 box rice baby cereal


8 oz. raw unsalted sunflower seeds


1 cup wheat germ


1 cup of chaff from loose alfalfa or 3/4 cup alfalfa powder


1 1/2 cup fresh bee pollen


1/4 cup powdered spirulina or Klamath Lake algae http://www.algae-world.com


1/2 cup crushed fine quality monkey chow (not Purina)


1/4 cup dried sea kelp


*1/4 cup dried egg yolk (or add freshly cooked egg yolk)


1/2 cup mixed unsalted nuts


1/4 cup coconut


1/16 cup brewer;s yeast


1/8 cup dried dandelion flowers (optional)


The above should be pulverized using a food processor, blender, or coffee grinder. The texture should resemble a "chunky" powder


http://www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/gutload.html




.


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## snmreptiles (Feb 26, 2004)

My goodness that's a long list!! LOL


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

When dealing with amphibians, I would suggest finding another substitute for the dry milk. The saturated fats in the milk can cause an increase in the problems associated with corneal lipidosis (the same with the egg yolk). So what is the coconut supposed to supply? This can also be a source of excess fats (which again can be a problem in amphibians...) 

Ed


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## snmreptiles (Feb 26, 2004)

A little over 3 months later...These guys are tiny froglets, wasn't expecting that at all!! Stoked none the less!! I have to admit when Shelley showed them to me, I was wondering when the last time we even had P. Vittatus tads!! 










Mike
http://www.snmreptiles.com


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