Eggs - need some advice

[cablemandan]

I came home today and found my toads have laid some new eggs on the leaf litter. I had no idea there had been a hookup, so this was a complete surprise to me. I am going to get a plastic lid under my coco hut, but my question is, do these even stand a chance just laying on the leaf litter? I don't want to mess with them in case, but I think they will dry out on the leaf litter. I hand mist, so it doesn't stay moist enough on it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is the first time to my knowledge, and they are just about 20 months old now, so I doubt this clutch will work out. Thanks in advance.

[SnakePaparazzi]

What kind of frog/toad are you talking about?

[cablemandan]

Cobalts, I should change my footer, since they are pretty much sexed now. I know I called them toads, habit when I talk to my friends lol sorry.

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Dan, those eggs absolutely have a chance to survive and develop into tads. The male cobalt will visit the eggs on occasion and water them to keep them moist. Do you have a water feature or water bowl in their viv?

[cablemandan]

i do now i put a lid with water under the coco hut, full of distilled (yay my first water feature). and he's been stomping them and what i guess is fertilizing them since i got home.who knows maybe he's taking a leak. a curious process. They got my attention. ^^ luv mai frogs.

[cablemandan]

This is completely out of the norm of everything i have read.... so do i leave these alone and put in some film canisters to let them transfer them to? They are bigger than that opening, but they have surprised me before. These are literally an inch from the front glass, and i thought this would be a more private process(haha).

[Philsuma]

take some pics of everything - way easier for us to advise that way. Bottom line...make sure you have HIGH humidity - spray often. Eggs need to be moist - never submerged. Use 'regular water' for egg misting / hydrating. Don't use distilled.

[Rusty_Shackleford]

The reason I mentioned a water feature or water dish would be for the male to uptake water. Usually there is enough moisture in the leaf litter that the male can crawl in there and absorb it through his skin. The male will water (urinate) on the eggs to keep them moist. A lid full of water underneath the coco hut will do you no good. You'll want a nice clean dry lid for the next time they lay eggs, hopefully in the hut this time.

You can certainly put film canisters or other small recepticles for the male to transport tads to. I've used little 4 oz deli/condiment cups in the past and have had cobalt males deposit tads in them. I hope you get to see them transport, that is one of the most amazing experiences a frogger can have.

[cablemandan]

OK I took out the water filled lid, and put it back in dry. Can I add some sort of water feature? I didn't go with a feature in this viv since it was my first and I didn't want to deal with all the headaches it seems they create. I am thinking of just dropping a little petri dish in soil in an un-used corner for hydration.

I can't take any pics at this time, I don't clean the glass much at all and I don't want to disturb them right now (but they seem comfortable enough with it when I do). I will probably do it this weekend, the eggs already have some white forming in them, and since I believe this to be the first clutch it seems unlikely these will make it. I will move forward and plan ahead now that I know they decided to pair up. I didn't expect any of it, since I have had newbie troubles with this being my first viv.

Many things have been learned from this one, all the info I have read here, and you all are very helpful. I was considering starting up a 10g and getting into thumbnail's but now I have changed that idea to focus on the current events.

[cablemandan]

So, those went bad, as I figured they would. She laid a new clutch yesterday, much larger eggs and in a tighter formation. I was at work, but my wife saw it happening. The males were on the opposite end of the tank, but they came over when she was done and started doing their thing. I was surprised to hear that, I thought the male should have been there during the laying process? At any rate, it was outside the hut again on the leaf litter, so they stomped on them and dragged some bark on the leaf somehow, and they were all destroyed when I got home from work today. I moved the hut around and switch out the lid I had under it, I had the opening facing the back of the enclosure and didn't realize it was blocking the opening. Smaller lid in there now I will wait and watch.

Still not sure about how to get some water in there to sit in, but I did switch out my misting water for spring water.

[Lady Bullseye]

I don't have these guys, but from what I've read a second dish with water (not the distilled, just spring water from the store) should work better than nothing. Anyone who knows correct me if I'm wrong here.

[Philsuma]

pics are needed here, for us to really help. You are going to need some re-arraigning to get them more suitable places to deposit so they don't wreck them.

[cablemandan]

I posted some pics in my tinc courting observation post. I got it all squared away now, thanks to the replies in both however. I had one go bad in the last ones, and have fresh ones in the viv that i'm going to let the parents deal with from here out. But I have 5 tads cruising around in my make shift tad bowl. growing pretty fast too. amazing how quick they grow when they emerge!!

[cablemandan]

I don't have these guys, but from what I've read a second dish with water (not the distilled, just spring water from the store) should work better than nothing. Anyone who knows correct me if I'm wrong here.

If any others are interested, Yup! This is right. They wanted a dish of water. They soaked up so much from the little dish, I put in a little frog shipping dish. But now I have to watch for over aggression from the males since i have a 2.1

This can be deadly from the wrestling I have seen. Sometimes I think the males have confused each other!

Water yes, but be sure you know your animals well enough to leave them alone without drowning each other, or have 1.1

[cablemandan]

Well hot diggity! I have tads in the water bowl I placed for them. They finally got the moving thing right. Now I just have to catch them in the act, since I am impressed by the fact they do this, I would love to watch it. SWEET!