Cynops orientalis care, please help!

W

waldo

Guest
I just bought two c.orientalis and got them set up in a tank with a box filter in it.I'm having a hard time finding good information on their care.One place says they are aquatic and can be in a totaly aquatic tank and other places say they need land area too(which I have).Also how toxic are these guys and how do I tell the sexes apart?any help would be greatly appriciated.Thanks so much.
 
Go to
www.caudata.org/caudatecentral
and read the FAQs and articles. There is a caresheet in the species database. There is an article on how to sex them. They are usually mostly aquatic, but do need a small land area.
 
thanks
happy.gif
 
Another question...How many of these guys can I keep in a 10 gallon tank?
 
I would say that 4 or 5 would be the absolute maximum, and that assumes that you have a setup with plenty of water. If your tank is only half full of water, and has gravel and other ornaments in it, you may have only 3 gallons of water. Any fish-keeper will tell you that you can't keep more than one or two very small fish in that small of a volume of water (and you have to be extra careful with water quality too). Same deal for newts.
 
Hey Waldo, just on the off chance do you live in Windsor ON?

I ran into someone a pet store yesturday and gave them this url, and was curious if it was you.

Rob
 
Hi Rob,no it wasn't me.I live in North Idaho,I've been coming here for awhile(I have axolotls).

And about the water in my tank,now that I have a good cover I will be adding more water.Thanks again.
 
I have bred Cynops orientalis for several years in succession now. Regarding the care of C. orientalis--

What many beginners don't seem to realise is that this species like many newt species has an aquatic larval stage like axolotls (they resemble incredibly small axolotls at this stage with external gills)

Immediately after hatching they spend a day or so without feeding and then eat the smallest of live brine shrimp larvae. The baby Cynops larvae slowly put on weight until they develop belly colouration. By the 2nd or 3rd week they begin taking chopped bloodworm and eventually medium size bloodworm or live small whiteworms. These need to be dropped directly in front of each individual larvae. After a couple of months or so in the larval stage you will one day see them losing their gills-these diminish in size over a day or so until they are apparently lost(I say apparently because I had one larvae without external gills re-enter water after a couple of days and this individual seemed to regrow external gills for a while before becoming the land form-probably an adaption when conditions demand it-Temperature too hot? ). If yor larvals develop gas bubbles bung them in the fridge for a few hours to effect a cure. And yes try not too freeze them although I have seen my own larvae inadvertently frozen survive with no ill effects when defrosted by leaving at room temperature -I recently heard thet the Yangtse river has frozen over- as this is the Orientalis home territory this feature of their lifestyle does not surprise me!

The larval orientalis generally though become like 'red eft' equivalents. It will go onto land and hunt insects like aphids and white worms on land etc. This land phase is a part of the orientalis lifecycle. They may spend 18 months or more in this land phase and actively hunt (you can simulate the hunting reflex by waving on a small wire small packages of blood worm or defrosted fruitflies in front of the juveniles-they will extend their tongues like tiny frogs and snap the food into their mouths.

After this time they generally return to the water and become semi,semi-aquatic adults who very,very rarely appear on land(some individuals more than others-generally not a good sign. I once saw a very large orientalis specimen in a petshop that was easily the size of a Cynops.p (if not larger) that may have relied on over feeding of things like mealworm (not recommended) This individual was clearly in a land stage while it was a large fat adult.

I suggest you start if they are very young land based juveniles in a 2/3 land based terrarium with moss and rocks and spider plants (no mud substrate needed) The water must be clean and stood 48 hours or dechlorinated by other means(your water supply may be reliable or not)Use fruitsalad gravel for your incline into the water. They will ocassionally have a full skin shed and peel thir skin off like a sausage and eat it whole. When they are adults 1.5 to 2 inches (or more) provide a rock in the middle in a substantially water based but still reasonably shallow 3-5 inches is usually fine. Glass vessels would be recommended by this stage. They do not like excessive filtration I find with my set up partial water changes are fine with no filters but my water source seems reliable.


Larval stage cynops must be kept in an inclined container in their later stages prior to metamorphosis and this must be covered by this stage as C.orientalis are adept climbers climbing up glass very easily. They are master escape artist and escape means death as they dessicate rapidly.

The blue coloured pen pals(living pals?) with the hinged lids are very good containers for juvenile land based orientalis but check that there are no holes/gaps bigger than about 2.5mm. You must remember to close them !!!
 
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