Are stones and moss from my years okay for my newt tank?

[Wproffitt]

Hello all!
I’m new to this forum and appreciate your expertise in advance. My daughter and I I are getting her paludarium set up and I thought I’d use some of the large smooth stones from our garden as well as some moss from the forest floor near our house. I got the tank set up won’t these but when I went to a local reptile/amphibian show last weekend, one of the frog people told me that materials from my yard could be a no-no due to mites or other nastiness I may be introducing to the tank.
How seriously should I take this? I’ve already returned the moss to the forest floor, but do I really need to worry about rocks if they look clean and are nice and smooth?
Thanks again!

Scott

 

[NKmememachine]

I have unfortunately delt with mites infesting pet enclosures and it can be devestating if left uncontrolled. There is also the dreaded Chitrid fungus to worry about. So certainly there is always a risk of introducing unwanted parasites or diseases whenever new things are brought into your pet's tank. That being said, items, plants, and animals from a pet store also run that risk, maybe less so but it can still happen. I would argue that most of the time you will be fine putting stuff from outside in your paludarium. I have put stuff foraged from my yard and neighboring woods in pet enclosures and it is almost always safe. You hear the same arguements when discussing buying vs catching insects for feeding.

If it's not alive and it's heat tolerant (like the rocks you mentioned) you can always just boil it before you put it into the tank. That almost always resolves any risk of introducing a disease. Plants are trickier. You can isolate it for a while and depending on the species, submerge or rinse it in water to reduce the chances of it bringing mites or other parasites over. You can also look for antibacterial/fungal or parasite-killing substances to apply to the plant while you are "quaruntining" it. Obviously be sure whatever chemicals you use on the plant are not long lasting, safe for amphibians, or are no longer present on the plant when it gets placed in the tank or you may have other problems.

So really it's down to whether you want to run the risk (however slight) and just put them in the tank, take some time to be extra safe and use methods like the ones listed above (I'm sure there's plenty more that you could find by looking around the internet), or spend more money at the pet store for a bit more peace of mind.
I try to look for ways to reduce the risk of something going wrong whenever I can when keeping exotic pets. One small mistake can lead to a lot of expensive veterinary fees, complex and stressful (for you and the animal) procedures, and or dead pets.

I hope this helps a bit! Personally, I say go ahead and use the stuff you found but try to ensure that they're clean by using some of the methods mentioned.

 

[minorhero]

All of my tanks use rocks from the wild. Many use wood from the wild and any that have terrestrial moss use moss from the wild.

Like anything it's important to pay attention to your tank and animals. Don't make a tank and then walk away from it only to dump food into it and never observe anything. Sit and watch your tank and animals interact with their environment. This will tell you if you have a problem. That said. If it's just rocks and wood you are concerned about, boiling them for 30 minutes will resolve any issues you could possibly have.

Depending on species of newt though, you may be much much much better off not including any land in your enclosure. Good luck.

 

[Wproffitt]

All of my tanks use rocks from the wild. Many use wood from the wild and any that have terrestrial moss use moss from the wild.

Like anything it's important to pay attention to your tank and animals. Don't make a tank and then walk away from it only to dump food into it and never observe anything. Sit and watch your tank and animals interact with their environment. This will tell you if you have a problem. That said. If it's just rocks and wood you are concerned about, boiling them for 30 minutes will resolve any issues you could possibly have.

Depending on species of newt though, you may be much much much better off not including any land in your enclosure. Good luck.

 

[Wproffitt]

Thanks for your quick responses to my question. I emptied the tank today and cleaned it out, along with its filter and all other contents. Tomorrow, my daughter and I will boil the stones that were in it and start again with configuring the space.
At this point, it’s most likely that we’ll be getting blue tailed newts. Are they as aquatic as the fire bellies I had when I was a kid? If so, we shouldn’t need too much land.

 

[minorhero]

Thanks for your quick responses to my question. I emptied the tank today and cleaned it out, along with its filter and all other contents. Tomorrow, my daughter and I will boil the stones that were in it and start again with configuring the space.
At this point, it’s most likely that we’ll be getting blue tailed newts. Are they as aquatic as the fire bellies I had when I was a kid? If so, we shouldn’t need too much land.

Blue-tailed newts (Cynops cyanurus) are very aquatic and will stay submerged full time if your water is cycled, clean, and cool. Speaking of which, if you emptied the tank you will definitely need to cycle it before you add newts. Not sure if you have any experience with aquariums or not. If you are not familiar with cycling a freshwater aquarium, definitely look up some information or videos on how to do it. Not cycling and not having a top are the two most common ways people kill their newts. Good luck.

 

[Wproffitt]

Blue-tailed newts (Cynops cyanurus) are very aquatic and will stay submerged full time if your water is cycled, clean, and cool. Speaking of which, if you emptied the tank you will definitely need to cycle it before you add newts. Not sure if you have any experience with aquariums or not. If you are not familiar with cycling a freshwater aquarium, definitely look up some information or videos on how to do it. Not cycling and not having a top are the two most common ways people kill their newts. Good luck.

Thanks for the response. It’s good to hear that my assumptions about blue tails being mostly aquatic are correct. As for cycling, I have had good success with water conditioner and bottled bacteria for my betta fish. Is there something else I need to know with a fresh setup for newts?

 

[Niels D]

Don't bother with creating a large terrestrial area. You won't see C. cyanurus out of the water that much, unless the aquatic conditions are problematic (lacking water conditions / too much water flow etc).

 

[minorhero]

Thanks for the response. It’s good to hear that my assumptions about blue tails being mostly aquatic are correct. As for cycling, I have had good success with water conditioner and bottled bacteria for my betta fish. Is there something else I need to know with a fresh setup for newts?

You will need a proper cycle for newts. Meaning you need a source of ammonia and then you need to grow bacteria till the ammonia and nitrite go away. You will need liquid test kits to verify.

The reason being is that unlike fish newts will refuse to eat or go in water if there is ammonia and their skin is prone to ammonia burns followed by infection and death. Soooo ya, don't just rely on bottled bacteria.

 

[Wproffitt]

We restarted the tank tonight with conditioned water and bottled bacteria. I’ll be sure to get a test kit while I’m out tomorrow so I can start testing the water.