Question: FBN - petshop info ?????

[firefly]

Hello - it's been so long since I posted on here.

I am desperate to obtain a couple of FBN's. I have surfed the web & uTube for information on them & I have a tank set-up for them - cool water (20c) with rocks, plants, bare bottom no filter but prepared to change water daily. I have my own mealworm colony & able to buy bloodworms etc.,

I contacted my local aquarist who happens to have them in stock. When I ask what water temp he is keeping them at he said - "oh they're in with the tropical fish - so tropical temp". I questioned cos I thought they needed to be in cold water (17-20c) ??? He told me that he would have to check online because he wasn't sure.

I'm rather worried now. I don't want to buy them & give them a shock by putting them into the cold water of my tank. I do have a tropical fish tank with balloon mollies in but I think the newts would be freaked out by them.

Any advice please?

 

[xxianxx]

below 20c, they are not tropical Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly
If you buy FBN from a pet shop they could actually be a number of species H.orientalis (chinese firebelly ,most likely), H.pyrrhogaster (japanese firebelly), P.labiatus (paddletail newts) and other Parmesotriton species. Make sure you id the newts properly as pet shops tend to suck at this and will happily sell you a misidentified newt and gve you the wrong care advice (as you well know lol). Also I personally wouldnt buy FBN from a pet shop, they will be wild caught , prone to illness and stress behavors and your next thread will probably be "my new FBN wont go in the water , just hang about on logs all day looking skinny........ and ones got a sore which is getting worse". Have you considered alternate species which are cb ?

 

[Azhael]

Definitely not ok in a tropical tank with fish.
Aside from the probability of mistaken identification of the newts, you should consider that all of those species that are found available at shops are WC and imported in terrible conditions. By purchasing newts from such stablishments you promote further capture and importation of animals with the cost of lives that that means. Also, as a constumer you are getting severely stressed animals that are likely to strugle adapting to captivity and may develop serious infections, refuse to eat, etc.

If you want to acquire H.orientalis, or any other firebelly, the best option, ethically and from a costumer´s point of view is to acquire captive bred animals directly from a breeder.

By the way, mealworms and bloodworms are not particularly good diet choices. Both are nutritionally incomplete. The staple should be composed of earthworms, and for variety you could offer terrestrial and fresh-water crustaceans, the bloodworms, small crickets, waxworms, small slugs, whiteworms, specially formulated pellets...