Question: Introducing female Paddletails..

[CherryBlossom]

Just a wee question to all you lovely peeps who are more experienced with the paddletail newts....

As some may be aware I have 2 males in seperate housing due to territorial issues. I was wondering....

If I was to introduce a female paddletail into the smaller of the male's housing...would that be a good idea or a bad one?

I wouldnt introduce a female into the other newts aquarium as he was the one who had issues and was snapping...so I wouldnt want the female to get caught up in that. But the other newt he is very shy and not aggressive..... but would he become aggressive if I introduced a female to him?

It was just something I was thinking about for the last couple of days... but I dont want to rush into it... I will wait and see what the more experienced keepers have to say on the matter.

I have no plans to see if they will breed.... I just wondered if the smaller newt would appreciate some company... and after the territorial issues with another male newt I wouldnt even dream of risking that again.. hence the female idea.

Thanks so much for any advice etc that you can offer

 

[CherryBlossom]

One further thinking and researching about these newts I have decided that they perhaps are a species that should be left solitary?

 

[Azhael]

The thing is that caudates are not social creatures, so they really don´t care if they are alone or not. In the wild they are solitary except during breeding season when contact is minimal and, for some species, when they are juveniles and become gregarious (although this is possibly coincidental or a defensive strategy).
There really is no actual need to provide company.

It is indeed possible that a seemingly non-agressive individual could turn agressive against a new addition. If you decide to get another one, be prepared for the possibility (although you should quarantine it for at least a month anyway).

Personally, if you have no intention of attempting to breed them, i would like to discourage you from getting more animals. Remember where they come from.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

And if you do decide to get another one, after it has gone through its quaratine period you'll want to completely re-arrange the permanent tank around. This will prevent the current inhabitant from having a 'territory' already set up. Also remember to provide plenty of hides and visual barriers.

 

[Azhael]

You are absolutely right Justin, i completely forgot to mention that point.
Introducing a new animal into the stablished territory of another is much more risky than introducing both at the same time to a "new" territory.

 

[CherryBlossom]

Thank you both very much I have decided to leave them as they are... I had only considered introducing a female as I did wonder if the male was lonely. But thanks very much for the advice