Could someone help me identify my newts please?

[axybaby]

Hi everyone, today is my first day of being mum to my new newts and the more than obvious start would be to identify them correctly but for this I need your help please.
So I'd done lots of research and was planning on purchasing a Chinese fire bellied newt
(C. orientalis) so when the opportunity came along via a local ad I decided to take the jump. But the catch was the owner wanted rid of all her newts which she named as 1 Chinese fire bellied newt, 3 alpine newts and 1 unknown. She added "I'll just put the ones you dont want in the pond" so I now own them all!
I've separated the 3 species for the obvious toxicity reasons but also I'm a fond believer of no mixing.
So I think I've ID'd them as the seller described and the one unknown is possibly a palmate newt my other problems after identification is if I release this palmate into the wild will he survive after being captive and one of the Alpine newts is really big/fat/gravid, I've removed the gravel they were in so possibly they've swallowed some to cause this shape? There are also two photos of my current set up for the Alpines (all advice welcome) I'm hoping to do something similar for my CFBN......when I get some more money :rofl:
I've named the photos and hopefully you can see tail shapes etc.
Thank you for reading this and Id love all advice and help

 

[Azhael]

Well, the alpines and the H.orientalis are properly identified, but i think the brownish animal is a male Lissotriton vulgaris.

I´m not sure how much volume that container allows for but it really should be a minimum of 40l. Meassure it to see if it´s sufficient.
Also, both the alpines and the orientalis are unlikely to require a terrestrial more complicated than a piece of cork bark, so the elaborate one in the pictures is a waste of space. I would strongly recommend a typical aquarium or a large tupperware rather than turtle (i think?) tanks.

I recommend using live plants in great abundance. You wouldn´t believe how much of a difference they make, plus those newts love very densely planted areas.

 

[axybaby]

Thank you Rodrigo

The tank (Hamster box ) holds only 35L but I do have my eyes open for an upgrade as soon possible this was just a cheap one to let me separate them as soon as I could. I can easily remove the "land area" and provide another island or floating cork bark which may actually allow for more water to be added. In your opinion would you release the wild creature? I'm worried he wont survive.
I have tried and failed miserably with live plants for my axolotls each attempt seemed worse that the last! I was overrun with snails then the frogbit died, fairy plant grew so much and was stuck everywhere :rofl: I may try some potted plants as I'm sure these guys aren't as destructive, do you have some recommendations? Also do you have any views on my "fat" Alpine?
Thank you, I know from my time spent on the axy forum you guys answer a lot of questions so I appreciate the responses

 

[Azhael]

Ah, hamsters cages, i knew they looked familiar.
35l is fairly adequate althought more is always preferable. I would encourage you to buy some large tupperwares, they are very cheap and you can find some as large as 90l. They are not pretty but they are very practical.
The female alpestris looks gravid to me, the shape is very typical of a gravid female. If she has the same pear-shaped body when she is in the water i would say it´s almost certain that she is gravid.

I wouldn´t release the L.vulgaris. It´s been exposed to other newts including a WC orientalis so it´s a risk of introducing patogens into wild populations. It´s legal to keep this species in the UK so i wouldn´t think twice about keeping it and avoiding potential risks. Releasing animals into the wild is illegal anyway.Make sure it gets some good food in, it´s looking thin and these newts deteriorate very fast once they loose weight. Some waxworms should do the trick to get him to gain some weight.

Don´t despair about the live plants. Try again, the benefits are too huge to give up. I would recommend Elodea, java moss, java fern, Hydrocotyle leucocephala, najas, vallisneria, etc. All of those are pretty easy and hardy. Both the alpines and the orientalis would love very thick vegetation to hide in. You can´t have too many plants!

 

[Kaysie]

It's actually illegal in most areas to release animals. You definitely don't want to release animals that have been exposed to foreign organisms. This could introduce non-native pathogens into wild populations, killing off the whole lot.

 

[axybaby]

Thank you both so much I shall have a toodle out tomorrow and pick up some waxworms and perhaps some plants lol
Thats a great point Kaysie, I was so caught up on wondering how the little fella would survive I hadn't even considered the ecological effects.
So now from the one newt I wanted and planned/prepared a tank for Ive got 3 species, another new tank and now will need another my other half wont be happy haha
This means my lazy Sunday is now a geek fest of researching the new newts

 

[Kaysie]

It's okay, you would have gotten more tanks eventually. We all start out that way. Eventually, it always escalates into "just one more tank!" Before you know it, they've got their own bedroom, and you're getting rid of the sofa so you can fit in more tanks.