My young Notophthalmus are growing up...

I took a couple pics today of the new aquatic adult:





I think I'll leave him in the shallow water for a couple more weeks. Only 7 more to go!

AWESOME!!

I admire your tanks and newts so much! I have 3 efts which are about 2.5 years old now and have yet to go aquatic, though I really only have a water dish in there at the moment.

I want to build a setup similar to yours but have lots of questions if you don't mind.

What kind of sand is that?

What type of filtration do you use?

If no filtration, how often do you do water changes?

Thanks!

Keep in mind that this set-up is not meant to last because the gravel area will become stagnant. But here's how I made it:

The little log and moss hill was already stuck on the back wall of the tank (it's made of Great Stuff covered with silicone and cocofiber). First, I decided where I wanted the transition from water to land to be and lined it with large rocks. Then I filled the land area with aquarium gravel to about 1/2 inch over the depth that the water would be. I put a very shallow layer of rinsed play sand in the water section. The large rocks hold back the gravel so the slope doesn't tumble down. Then I put a layer of dirt (about 2 inches deep, from another terrarium) over the gravel and planted it with ferns from my yard. Then I filled the water area carefully so I didn't accidentally rinse any dirt into the water. There's no filtration.

Like I said, the water in the gravel area (under the dirt) will probably become anoxic. I did one partial water change about 3 weeks after setting this up and the water smelled fine to me, so probably hasn't happened yet. I have to do another water change soon, but I'm lazy and it's hard to remove water from such a shallow pond.

It's possible that the plants might send down roots that will help clean that area. I bet you could do this easily with fast grower like Pothos.

Just a little random update:

I moved the new adult to his own 'transition tank' - it has deeper water, but still has a haul-out spot in case he needs it. I'm not sure if I will end up moving him to the adults' tank. He's already dancing and leaving spermatophores. Actually, he seems to be further along than either the adult male or Sneaky as far as going into breeding condition.

No other efts have moved into the water. They're all eating blackworms out of a little dish now.

I'm thinking of moving all of the adults to an outdoor 'cold' tank to get breeding started. The females look ready to pop, but I think the temps have not dropped enough to trigger them to lay (or the males to court). I don't think I will raise any eggs this year again, but I definitely would like to send some out to people who have the time to try.

And, just because I'm curious (although people might not check this thread): Did anyone I sent eggs to in the past have any success with them? Maybe there's no point in sending any more out if shipping somehow damages the eggs or larvae.

slowfoot said:

And, just because I'm curious (although people might not check this thread): Did anyone I sent eggs to in the past have any success with them? Maybe there's no point in sending any more out if shipping somehow damages the eggs or larvae.

Click to expand...

All the ones I got came in and fungused over. I attribute that though to the heat they were exposed to during shipping. I believe they would survive just fine now since it is nice and cold.

Greatwtehunter said:

All the ones I got came in and fungused over. I attribute that though to the heat they were exposed to during shipping. I believe they would survive just fine now since it is nice and cold.

Click to expand...

That's sad to hear, but thanks for letting me know.

Unfortunately, the adults are laying later and later in the year, so that temps are usually heating up by the time I get eggs. I think I can get them to start earlier by dropping the temps, though.

The adults are now outside in a large tub (where the water temp is between 45-50F) with the hopes that this will stimulate breeding. If things go well, I should have eggs soon.

Well, today has not been good so far

I lost my new adult. I'm pretty sure he's escaped from the tank somehow. It's pretty secure, but I've got a feeling he managed to find a small crack to squeeze out of - the tape I had along the back of the lid is old and has come up in couple spots. If so, he's been out too long by now for there to be any hope. I haven't seen him for two days. I've fixed the lid, but the damage has been done. I'm also considering tearing the tank down just in case he's gotten behind the land portion somehow (pretty unlikely).

In slightly happier news, the adults are courting like mad in their outdoor 'pond'. The water temps are hovering right around 42F. I'm hoping to have some eggs soon.

Wow, it's been awhile!

Everything moved successfully from Florida to Indiana. My newts produced a bunch of eggs back in Nov/Dec that hatched. I actually ended up raising the larvae outside in a large tub (water temps never got below 76F and sometimes higher than 80F). They grew very, very well on pond creatures, daphnia, and blackworms. Strangely, the later eggs were all duds - not sure why. Anyway, the move caused the larvae to morph too early, so I now have a lot of very small efts to pawn off on people who can care for them. I think I found a forum member who will take them all. I just don't have much time to care for teeny guys these days.

The adults in their temporary home:



And back in their 29 gallon pad (except for Sneaky and his little brother, who will be moving to their own 10 gallon as soon as I get it set up):



Mr. Newt is happy to be back:

Hey, I just want to say that your newts are beautiful! I just finished my Noto tank today and am cycling it now. Any tips you can share with a Noto newbie?

I don't have too many great insights. Just make sure you have a good lid on that tank. They may seem perfectly happy in the water, but they can climb like little monkeys.

Good luck!

That is the cutest picture in the universe!!! Incredible little pink creature!!

This thread never ends...

So, all 14 efts found a new home with someone from the forums who I know will do very well with them. I really wish I had more time to devote to these guys, but I just don't right now.

I have only three larvae left - all are a little challenged. And I must admit that I'm conducting a small experiment. I missed one of the new morphs - actually just left him in the water with the larvae - and didn't notice him until a couple of weeks ago. I've decided to just leave him in there. So far, he's doing well: comes up for air, not climbing the sides of the tub, eats well, etc. Things would be so much easier on everyone if we could just skip the eft stage so I'm hoping this works out. Based on talking to some people, I think it will.

Everyone else is doing great. My two remaining lady efts (I think they're 3 years old now?) refuse to go in the water, but they beg for worms like little dogs, so I really don't mind if they want to stick around on the land for a while.

Finally have a camera again, so I thought I would add a little photo update on the four remaining 'larvae' (they've actually grown up quite a bit).

Here are three of the four:



As you can see, they are all at different stages of maturation. I've got one who has morphed completely, one who still looks like a larvae (a huge, fat one!), and two that have adult coloration, but have decided to keep their gills for now.

The larva and one of the gilled morphs:



And another shot showing off their impressive bellies:



The two lady efts are still doing well, but seem to have no desire to go into the water:

how can you tell that the efts are females? I thought it was impossible to tell until they reach sexual maturity? And these are so cool ^-^ I have a few Noto v. v. and think the "spots" on this variety are really cool. I also find it interesting that there are 4 different kinds of Noto v. These are probably my favorite newts! ^-^

I can tell they are female because they have thin back legs. Males should have much thicker legs. They are probably mature (enough) to enter the water at anytime, so they look basically like adults. I think they are 3 years old now.

In honor of the start of courtship this year, I think I will 'close' this thread and start anew with a more informative thread. It's gotten a little long and some of the pictures are missing.

So, farewell, old thread! It's been fun

I've only just found this, and I've really enjoyed reading it. I was going to post on the new thread but I couldnt find it. I've got 6 red efts that arrived on Thursday. They all seem pretty healthy and well and are eating already, so heres hoping they make it!

Good luck with them! I'll post the new thread soon.

It has certainly been a great thread. I enjoyed the continued insight in the life of your notos, specially since we very rarely ever get to hear about the captive breeding of the species, let alone so successfully