Japanese Fire Belly Newt

[ontario]

Hey
I am thinking about keeping a japanese fire belly newt in a 5 gal tank. I have a filter and I am planing to fill the tank half way with water. I am going to put a couple plastic lillypads on the surface. Will they be able to climb up on these? And is frozen bloodworm good for food? Thanks a lot

 

[william]

five gallons is a bit small, you'll do better with a 10G tank, the larger the tank, the easier it is to keep the water clean, blood worms would be okay, but they also like live food, earthworms are excellent as well as live bloodworms, the lily pads would be okay, i think, but they always like underwater plants, the more plants, the happier the newt! i'd also fill the tank rather then have it half full. make sure that there is a tight filling lid on top, they are excellent climbers
last but not least, are you sure it's a japanese fire bellied newt? if you are getting it from a pet shop then it is probably either a chinese fire bellied newt, paddle tailed newt or a warty newt, read these to help answer any other questions you might need:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/firebelly.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_pyrrhogaster.shtml

hope these help!

 

[ontario]

Oh it actually looks like the warty newt. Any other info I should know? Thanks a lot.

 

[william]

sure:
http://www.livingunderworld.org/caudata/database/salamandridae/paramesotriton/