Aquatic marmoratus juvies???

[omicron]

Hi, i´m getting five juvies real soon, and i have a terrestrial set-up for them. It´s just moss and a shallow water dish, with a couple of hiding places....i want to quarantine them so i won´t do anything more complicated until they´ve been there for a month or two.

But...i´d really like to keep them in an aquatic tank once i´ve quarantined them (making sure they all eat great and are in a good condition....the shipping is gonna be hard for them). I´ve read that it´s rather eassy to keep other specie´s juvies aquatic, but i don´t know about marbleds...

is it a good idea??? or is it just a risk that it´s better to avoid?? It would be eassier to keep them that way but first thing is their health not my convinience...
So what do you think, should i try? and how do i trick them to go into the water??? Thanx for any help

 

[coen]

Juvenile marmoratus will probably prefer a life on land for the first two years.

 

[jeff]

I agree, they hate the water with a passion. I have been using paper towels and some moss for my smallest ones and it seems to work quite well, and my bigger ones have a ten gallon with alot of moss and rocks. I don't even have a water dish, as I don't think they would ever use it. I just make sure the paper towels and moss is not dried out, but not overly damp.

 

[omicron]

ok thanx a lot. I just wanted to know if it was better to avoid trying. I´ll keep them in the quarantine tank for longer then...then i´ll put them in a 60l tank with a nice terrestrial set up (live plants, and a natural look).
Thanx again ppl.
They are supossed to be sent today....i´m so damn nervous :S

 

[peter]

I have my juveniles in 1" or 2" of water and feed them blackworms which really fattens them up. The breeder told me to do this and it's been working out fine.

 

[jeff]

Peter, the juveniles are still in water? You mean they are fully morphed? That doesn't seem to make sense that they should be in constant water. They will eat just about anything anyway, earthworms, crickets, ect.

 

[jeff]

Peter, the juveniles are still in water? You mean they are fully morphed? That doesn't seem to make sense that they should be in constant water. They will eat just about anything anyway, earthworms, crickets, ect.

Here is a pic of my setup, the tank is a 2.5 gallon, which is perfect for the juvies, and it makes cleaning and feeding easy.

Here it is further away from the ten gallon the larger ones are in.

And sometimes they do this.

 

[michael]

I kept my juveniles in water for awhile and they did fine. They reached a stage where they prefer land and I now have them on land with a small water dish.

 

[omicron]

I think i´m going to keep them on land and forget about water until they are adults. I don´t want to risk and loose any of them because of stupid mistakes.
Thanx for the pics Jeff, i´m going to keep them in a 2,5 gallon tank myself too.

 

[peter]

Jeff,
They were morphed when I received them in November. They have a choice of land or water but they all stay in the water.

 

[jeff]

Peter, November is when I got my morphs too, but they would not even touch the water. I talked with Ian, who I got them from, and he had them all out of water after they morphed. Perhaps they have difficulty getting back in after they go out, and once they get a taste of dry land they have less drive to try the water again.

Anyhow, these are by far the fastest walking newts I have ever seen, they can run down a cricket. They also are quite crafty, and use rocks to ram crickets into their mouths that are trying to escape.

 

[peter]

I'm starting to have my doubts a couple of mine like to go on the land area but then they have no trouble going back into the water. They eat blackworms readily and are really fattening up which is good. The point is do you think it could cause any harm keeping them aquatic. I always thought you don't fix what ain't broke.Thanks!

 

[peter]

Jeff -By the way does your smaller tank have proper ventilation
because I read some where that marmoratus are prone to
skin problems if kept in to moist or high humidity housing!

 

[ravenous]

Hey Jeff, isnt that too many newts for too small a space? Im just asking cause from what Ive read its best to keep about 2 in a 10 gal at least. How old (or size) do they have to be before seperating them off into their own tanks?

Great pics btw