Firebellied and red-spotted newts?

[DeCypher]

I was wondering if I could keep firebellis and red-spotted newts together, since the nearby pet shop recently got some in. Would it be safe? Also, should I trust that this little pet shop keeps good care of their animals?

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Nope, this is a bad idea. Just do a search and you'll see plenty of reasons why not to. One of the biggest reasons is that they have very different breeding strategies.

 

[froggy]

Don't mix them. Look at the species mixing disaster article on the caudata culture articles page.

EDIT this this the link: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml

Also, I would be very surprised to find a high-street petshop that took good care of newts, particularly one that is importing WC animals (both species will be WC). If the newts are being kept well, temperatures will be below 20C and even better 18C or below, water quality (or substrate if they are on land) will be good (hard to judge, but it shouldn't be filthy or cloudy), the newts will look like they have appropriate food available, somewhere to climb out of the water, they are not mixed with other species, particularly with anurans, large fish or turtles, they have shelter in the form of plants or hides or wahteverm and that dead/dying/ill animals are not floating around in the tank. I would be surprised if a petshop meets all those criteria and if any criteria met are met accidentally (the newts happen to have been dumped in a cold water tank, or whatever).

Sorry to be negative about petshops, but in the vast majority of cases this is the reality. If you want to keep another species and have the resources to set up a new tank, look in the advertisement section of this forum. There are quite a few CB animals being advertised at the moment, or you can place a wanted ad for a specific species. You may pay a little more for CB animals, but the advantages (both eithical and practical) are overwhelming.

Hope this helps

C

 

[DeCypher]

Just a little curious about the pet shop now. All of the criteria are met, but they keep them with the fire-belly toads, too. Is that bad?

 

[froggy]

That's surprisingly good for a pet shop! But, yes it is not a good idea to keep Bombina with Hypselotriton (Cynops)...the toads are voracious feeders and will often try to eat the newts, which can result in both dying from injury and from ingesting the other animal's toxins. Also, there is the problem of diseases spreading between the two, and the fact that Bombina orientalis likes slightly warmer temperatures than the newt.

 

[Azhael]

Yes it is. At least in my opinion. B.orientais is a completely inadequate companion. They will try to eat (at least try) any newt that gets within range, and that can cause A LOT of stress for the enwts nd even wounds that given the circumstnces are very likely to get infected.

Even if they were being kept in excellent conditions i would still advice not to purchase them. By doing so you would be promoting that others WC newts replace them, and the cycle goes on (personally i think it´s unnacceptable). You can get this species from breeders if you really want it.

PD: Chris beat me to it xD

 

[DeCypher]

Well I don't want any stressed-out newts on my hands...are there any petshop chains that are ever good to their caudates?