Cynops ensicauda popei

[Chinadog]

Earlier this year I was offered a group of three baby C. ensicauda (cheers Aaron), so I shoehorned yet another enclosure into the gap left open when some terrestrial Alpines I was raising went aquatic.
Unfortunately though, the smallest one just wouldn't put weight on and eventually died. I tried everything I could think of including different temps, different foods aquatic and terrestrial set ups, and separating it from the other two in case there was some kind of pecking order. Even bathing it in diluted Bacyfec didn't work the miracle it has in the past with sickly Tylototriton and C. pyrrhos. It's never nice losing babies, but I was especially gutted this time because C. ensicauda don't grow on trees any more and also because my chances of getting both sexes have come down quite a bit now as well.
Thankfully the remaining two have done very well on a diet of chopped nightcrawler, fruit flies and whiteworms, and the characteristic gold/green splodges are just starting to appear on their flanks and limbs.
I'm still hopeful they are a pair because they have different body to tail length ratios, but I'm not sure how accurate sexing such young newts is using that method so I'm keeping everything crossed at the moment!

 

[CatSpit]

Great pictures, they are very cute! Love their colors, I take it they'll get more pronounced as they get older? Thanks for showing how you set up their enclosure as well. Sorry you lost a little one, that's really hard. Hopefully you do still have a male and a female so you can raise more babies!

 

[Donna001]

They are amazing.
Best of luck with getting a pair. :happy:

 

[Chinadog]

Thanks for the nice comments and likes guys!
I'm not sure how much more their colours will develop, some specimens have lots of the gold/green, while others can have next to none. I suppose it depends on their parents really, although some people believe the colours are brighter when they are raised terrestrially rather than aquatic, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

 

[seandelevan]

Big fan of these guys. I had a pair as young juvies and one did the same as you described and died but the other is a hog, fully aquatic, and is about 3 years old. Of all asiatic newts I've owned I find these guys with the most "personality".

 

[Chinadog]

Yes, before I got them I thought they would be just like baby C. pyrrhogaster, but already I've noticed differences. For example baby pyrrhos will often pretend to be dead if they feel threatened, whereas the swordtails will usually make a run for it! They also seem better at hunting moving pray than the pyrrhos and will sometimes actively chase fruit flies round their tank rather than sitting waiting for them to come into snapping distance.

 

[Sith the turtle]

Beautiful newts! I noticed that the Notophthalmus that I had owned had lots of personality as well, they'd wait by the shallows, and grab anything that walked past. I can't wait for more photos!

 

[SteGriffWales]

hi ben they have grown a fair bit since ive seen them when picking up the c.p ,shame about the small one but these things happen for no reason at all

 

[Rupert]

Hey Chinadog, wish you the best with the ensicauda.

I have a question though - what is the "Bacyfec" you mention? I tried searching for it online but didn't yield any meaningful results.

I have a friend struggling with a sickly T. Verrucosus and it may be of help to him.

 

[Chinadog]

Thanks Rupert.
I buy Bactyfec from here;
Fertilisers & Feeds Price List
It's one of a very few antibiotic medications that are available without a prescription here in the UK. I think it contains Baytril.

 

[Rupert]

Thanks Rupert.
I buy Bactyfec from here;
Fertilisers & Feeds Price List
It's one of a very few antibiotic medications that are available without a prescription here in the UK. I think it contains Baytril.

Thank you very much.

According to google, Bactyfec contains enrofloxacine, a very effective antibiotic used for small animals with less side-effects than Baytril.

 

[Chinadog]

Thank you very much.

According to google, Bactyfec contains enrofloxacine, a very effective antibiotic used for small animals with less side-effects than Baytril.

Ah right, I must be getting my wires crossed with something else, whatever is in it certainly seems to work very well most of the time though.

 

[BwKilcoyne]

I had the same problem before. I also had a group of three young Cynops ensicauda popei but one died for the same reason. The other two ate fine, and put on weight but no matter what I tried the smallest one did not. He ended up dying from it, but luckily the other two have done great. They are a few years older now, adults, and they both have a little bit of a belly on them I think they are a fantastic species, possibly the best one I have had.

 

[Chinadog]

The Swordtails have been pretty slow over the last few months for some reason. The main thing has been them stopping eating, the smallest of the two looked almost emaciated at one point. I ended up separating them in the end and put them in smaller tubs so they don't have to move much to find their food and it seems to have worked, they're both looking healthy and are back together again.
I wish they'd accept living in the water, but they won't just yet, That's when I can really bulk them up and get them growing! They seem more hydrophobic than my baby pyrrhogaster at the moment, pyrrhos of the equivalent size would have gone aquatic of their own accord before now.
Ah well, slow progress is better than no progress, I guess.

 

[CatSpit]

They are looking great, although it sounds like they've been quite the challenge to keep at a healthy weight! Glad they are back together again and doing well. Nice pics

 

[Chinadog]

I've been lucky enough to obtain five more baby Swordtails. These are the Southern Okinawa strain with dense bright markings down their sides and backs. They are still very small, but you can see why they are sometimes called "Gold dust" newts! I got a couple of pics when I put them in their home, but I'll get some proper ones once they've settled in.

 

[CatSpit]

Wow, they're beautiful, love the markings!

 

[Jort]

I have some C.e.popei (South Okinawa) juveniles as well from Niels D. Probably the same strain. He raises them aquatic in shallow water which is completely stuffed with pondweed. I keep them in the same way and they seem pretty hardy. I really love them and they're truly beautiful. I don't know if these guys stay hydrophobic once they're in a terrestrial setup. Yours look great!

 

[Chinadog]

My two oldest popei juveniles are now fully aquatic and doing really well. The warm temps seem to have given all the Cynops babies a huge appetite and growth spurt, so hopefully the other group shouldn't be long before they're ready to get wet again. Mind you, they are very easy to feed on land now they've lost their skittishness so there's no rush I guess.
I had to use a flash for the pics because their tank is overgrown, but even without it their colours are really starting to 'pop'!

 

[mr cyclone]

They look good , I'm getting a few south okinawas myself in the next month too