Bad pic....

[jesper]

At last...

 

[jesper]

Oh look now I am an active member!

 

[jesper]

Oh look now I am a prolific member!

 

[heidibird@cox.net]

nice pic!

 

[jennifer]

It's not so bad, Jesper! Congratulations on the new(t) camera. Keep 'em coming.

 

[jesper]

 

[jesper]

 

[chris]

Jesper, you have definately the same species I do...do you know if a shipment of these animals is in Britain as well?
Chris

 

[jesper]

I have no idea Chris. The funny thing about these fuzhongensis is that all are male, at least I think so (3/4 have tail sheens...).
How many males/females do you have.

I'm also very surprised how friendly they are with eachother - 4 males in breeding mood hehe.
I'm really watching out for aggression but since I put them in a 130l tank there has been no problems rather they hang out in bunches sitting on top of eachother etc(no I do not mean amplexus lol).

 

[chris]

Jesper
I have also experienced the fact that most imported fuzhongensis are males...the aggression only really kicks in round October time, especially if a female is present.
I have 1 male and 1 female.
Chris

 

[jesper]

Ah, any idea why there are so few females in pet shops?

I really only bought the ones that only had minor health problems, some others had pretty nasty stuff going on - one had a hole in his head - fishing hook.... I convinced the pet shop owner to do some euthanasia......

Are they only caught by mistake? Cause I talked to the pet shop owner and he says they come in very occasionally since they are imported together with large batches of tropical fish, it seems they are imported rather unintentionally...

 

[chris]

Jesper
They are imported intentionally, but I should think that at least some are imported with fish. I wouldn't think tropical, as they come from temperate climates...
I would also think that they are caught by accident and then sold on for some extra cash...however there are proper pet trade collection 'missions' - sometimes 1000s of newts are imported at the smae time. Many tropical fish suppliers do deal in newts aswell, so the companies they come from don't always indicate whether they are imported accidentally or not...
I'm not sure why females are so scarce. Perhaps they are more easily captured, or females are less hardy on the way.....who knows. Maybe the males are more sought after cos of 'pretty blue tails'.
Chris

 

[chris]

Any pics of whole setup?
Chris

 

[jesper]

Yeah sure, holiday at last!
I'll just clean the tank and I'll put one right up.

 

[jesper]

Hehe Chris - I said they were imported together with tropical fish not caught together with them.
I assume they are mixed with them at some trader's somewhere along they way. Yeah I definitely think these are caught by mistake(fishing hooks...) and then sold for some extra cash. I suppose the ones that concentrate on newts use more efficient methods than fishing them up?

Anyway, I was thinking about housing the males together and coming females separately, what ya think about that?

 

[chris]

Sorry Jesper, misunderstood you...
Re housing, I would keep them in pairs, as this will allow breeding and also stop aggression between both males and females.
I have my pair comfortable in a 3 ft tank, but I could probably squeeze another female or two in...
Chris

 

[jesper]

Here's the pic of the tank, it was taken in a hurry by a guy that hardly knows how to handle a camera so plz bear with me

 

[chris]

Nice setup!
The animal climbing on the java ferns looks like a caudopunctatus from the distance of the photo...any closer pics?
Chris

 

[jesper]

Hehe, nicely spotted Chris - It is a caudo.
It is anubias not java fern he is climbing on though

. I am trying to keep him in there temporary - he is much more nervous than the fuzzies. Reminds a hell of a lot more of a pachytriton.

 

[jesper]

The flash and his buddy mr.reflection is a pain in the ....