How long for P. chinensis to mature? Why won't one go in the water?

[firedreams]

We got 4 juvie P. chinensis a few months ago; each was about 7 cm long.

We set them up in a largely aquatic tank with a few logs and ledges. For the first couple of weeks, they were all fairly terrestrial and mostly sat in a little pile.

After a couple of weeks 3 of the 4 got used to the water and almost never come back onto the land.

Aquatic: William and PB

However, one of them ("Roger") never wanted to go into the water, and after 3+ months he still hangs out on the log. Sometimes he will sit with his body in the water and his head poking out - but he will never willingly let go of the log.

Terrestrial Roger:

Is this within the range of normal? Why won't he go in the water? I assume that the water quality is ok because none of his siblings seem to have any problem.

Also: how long does it usually take for these newts to reach adult size? Each has grown perhaps one cm over the past few months; at this rate it seems like it would take them years to mature.

Thanks!

 

[Azhael]

Perfectly normal in my opinion. It may refuse to enter the water until it reaches maturity, which is the "natural" way...
Paramesotriton are generally slow growers, and from what i hear you should expect them to take 2-3 years to reach maturity. Adult size is a bit of an imprecise term since they keep growing their whole lives.

 

[firedreams]

[FONT=&quot]Does that mean that Roger is 'normal' and the other three are precocious?

I wonder if we should increase the land area for him? Right now he doesn't have much space to walk around; he pretty much has to spend all of his time on the log pictured above.
[/FONT]

 

[Azhael]

They are all normal, it´s just that each individual is different and some are more hydrophobic than others.
I would certainly give the terrestrial one more space, even move him to a terrestrial tank of his own.

 

[Jennewt]

I agree, seems normal. The only issue is whether Roger is getting enough to eat. His skin is wet, so I suspect that it should be possible to get him aquatic. If you put him in another tank, you might want to try him with a very shallow semiaquatic tank and see if he's willing to be aquatic in shallower water.

 

[firedreams]

Thanks! We will consider the tank; first I think we will try to create a little anchored island for Roger.

He does eat less than the others, although not dramatically so. We hand feed them earthworm slices with tweezers, and we keep track of who ate on any given day; Roger does eat about 20% less - some days he just isn't hungry.

Interestingly, he has a slightly different style of eating - he often tries to grab the worm with his tounge (which never works) before lunging at it.

He is also more easily startled that the aquatic newts - if the worm touches him first, he will lose interest for a little while.

Just for fun, here is a video of Roger eating:

YouTube - Newts: Roger, a juvenile paramesotriton chinensis eating a worm

 

[firedreams]

A quick update:

We got Roger a little ledge to sit on; it attaches with magnets.

He seems to be taking to it, but is still a fickle eater.

In the first video clip below, he eats a small worm bit.

Offered a second bit (second video clip), he appears interested, mouths it briefly a few times, but then leaves it alone.

He does this often; any idea why?

Eats a worm:
YouTube - DSCF9882

Rejects a worm:
YouTube - Roger on land - looks at a worm, but rejects it

 

[firedreams]

Disaster! Roger's house has worked out too well.

Two out of the other three have found ouf about it and i found roger, blackie and william all huddled together this morning! I flipped them off into the water (they were very reluctant to move), but i dont think it will be long before they are back up on the land again with roger...

...for some reason the little flower pot house is very appealing to them.