And the winner for the award for the wimpiest newt is...

[chris]

Drumroll... My paramesotriton Hongkongensis. He is about 12cm long and is afraid of worms! why?
Chris

 

[erik]

How long have you had the newt? How big are the worms you are offering? Does the newt have places to hide?

 

[jennifer]

Also, does the newt eat other foods readily?

 

[chris]

Hi Jen and Erik
I have had the newt for about a month. I have two of them. They have plenty of hiding places. The worms I offered were only about a quarter of the body length full stretch. The newts both feed voraciously on bloodworm. The other newt was interested in the worm, but does not seem to be used to catching them. The newt in question is thinner than the other newt, and though it eats readily, it does not seem as strong as the other.

 

[henk]

Hai Chris,

might it be that you have male Paramesotriton ? If so it might just be that one of them is stressed by the other more territorial one and as such is starting to be too frightened.

If he's thinning up to quick it might be adviseable to seperate both or else to introduce lots of plants and stones in the tank so that they can hide from eachother (having cavities to hide)... but then it might be that you already installed it this way

 

[jennifer]

Yes, I agree. I had two male hongkongensis together and the dominant one ate, but the non-dominant one stopped eating. After I separated him, he was started eating and became much less shy. The problem with hongkongensis is that it's next to impossible to tell the males and females apart.

 

[chris]

Thanks everyone. I fed them some blood worm last night. They both gorged it and didd not attempt to harm each other. The funny ting was that when I put the filter back on, they went frantic and hid, then came out again once I had turned it off. Paramesotritons which don't like current?! Why do I get the odd ones; I once had an adult spotted net(N. Viridicens) which was terrified of water! Should I try leaving the filter off. It is a Fluval Biolife, so it isnt that powerful. For the moment ive directed the deflector upwards, so less current. They are not full grown, Henk, so I should not think they would be territorial yet. After the feed last night with no current, the thinner one looks much fatter.

 

[henk]

Hope they continue to do well Chris. Paramesotritons are quite interesting animals and I have kept some of them over quite a long time, but must admit that currently I'm more hooked on Hynobius (which are easier to keep though, so you have not decided to keep the easy ones)

If only the juvenile paramesotritons were not that difficult to raise (terrestrial eft stage)

 

[ralf]

Hi Chris,
from what I've read and observed Paramesotritons take advantage of low current velocity habitats in streams. They most probably don't inhabit the rapid or riffle parts of these running waters, but rather the pools and stretches with reduced currents.

Ralf