Question: Alpine newt efts help?

[BigMamaSlama]

I found 2 female wild alpines in a local pond earlier this year around may and I took them back to my garden where I kept them in a mostly aquatic setup with log islands and a pile of rocks to get out the water, I had some various pond weeds in there, now yesterday I discovered I had at least 2 eft/barely larvae in my tank which I completely neglected to the elements for most of the year, there's also snails and I assume a food source in there, I see bugs land on the water surface and stay there, the water is very hard to see through as its very green and the plant matter sits in the middle of the tank making an island on the surface of the deep water

I want to keep these as i really enjoyed having my previous 2 before they escaped back into the wild, these barely have their feather gills left so I'm just wondering how I should continue, shall I just leave them be in their aquatic setup and drain some water and add more land elements ? or should I move them into a terrestrial setup with dirt moss leaf litter and a rock/log ? I'm hesitant to because i can see the remains of their gills regardless they'll be left outdoors tucked into my hedge where bugs can crawling around. please just advise me on how I should go on from here I've never had metamorphizing newts only adults. also since these were found in the UK I'm unclear what subspecies these are please do enlighten me

I caught my first glimpse of 2 of them sitting on the weeds, they had a marble look with a white/yellow dorsal line down the back, no bigger than an inch so I'm just assuming they are indeed the offspring of my two females and some random newt species loitering. the water level has gotten very close to the top as its just been left in Scottish weather for months so i assume some have left, I didn't even realise there were eggs in there, its truly Christmas miracle

 

[BigMamaSlama]

Here are some pics I took, I haven’t seen them out much but they were enjoying the rain throughout the day

 

[CWhit]

Hi, there are laws about alpine newts in the UK, if you catch them you shouldn't release them. I'm not telling you what to do but thought you should know.

They're about the same age as mine but mine are further along, so I wonder if the colder weather & perhaps less food is slowing them down?

If they're happy in the water they will stay & even breed there. My females are full of eggs & will be laying soon. Mine are indoors & fully aquatic.

As long as yours can climb out if they want to they'll be ok. If you want to keep them outside you'll need a secure enclosure or they might wander off if they leave the water.

If you go to Caudata Culture, or search this forum, there are examples of outdoor enclosures. It will take a bit of work. But they'll go where the food is so maybe if you focus on that they'll stay around anyway. You can buy live daphnia etc to stock up their tank, but they do eat a lot, more than you'd expect

 

[CWhit]

Personally I'd leave the tank as it is, but add in some food & make sure they can climb out if they want to.