Fire Belly-ness...

[albert]

I'm not sure how much this topic has been looked into, but what makes a fire belly newt's belly more red as opposed to orange? I'm guessing it has to do with the food items offered and also seasonal variations, but does emotion like stress factor in too? Or does it deal with how healthy the newt is? Hmm...

 

[TJ]

Hi Albert.

Here's a thread on this subject:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/8383.html

Also, take a look at these pictures of some Cynops pyrrhogaster that have been kept long in captivity, probably without the amount of carotenes they'd get in the wild (either that or they're 2nd or 3rd generation captive-bred).

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/17322.html

 

[albert]

Wow, that's very intriguing Tim. So, if I want "redder" fire bellys, should I just feed them carrots then (which I believe are also high in carotene)? Hehe... just kidding.

But seriously, do you know if the comment on feeding fire bellys more crustaceans to get their bellies redder is true? I wouldn't want my fire bellys to turn into yellow bellys...

 

[albert]

No pun intended on that last comment