Land only Juvenile FBN?

[axylottie]

I'm looking at buying some fire bellied newts. they are very young, and the seller says they do not require water for the first 2 years of their life. Is this true?

 

[Joost]

yes, they can be kept terrestrial untill they are adults. You can also keep them aquatic, after morphing.
I keep them in a 50/50 setup, with 3 cm of water

 

[Mark]

Yes, some juvenile FBN can be very hydrophobic. A terrestrial set-up and a small water dish is all they need. As they grow you can start introducing a larger water area. Adults can be almost 100% aquatic. See:

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops pyrrhogaster - Japanese firebelly

 

[Azhael]

If they are trully juveniles, yes, they may take a long time to reach adulthood, which is the point where they go back to water. Mind you, some grow faster and reach adulthood within a year.
However, if you are buying from a pet-shop there´s a 99,9% possibility the animals are WC adults (unless he is breeding his own orientalis which is extremely unlikely for a pet-shop owner).
People have been reporting that C.orientalis are appearing in shops with small size and looking like juveniles, but as far as i´ve ben able to ascertain they are in fact young adults. People just don´t realize how small young adults can be.
Anyway, if they are young adults, they can be kept 100% aquatic.

I would like to recomend you not to acquire WC animals. Many are ill, some are down right, dying, and the rest are at the very least VERY stressed due to the whole process of the importation from China. In short, even the healthy looking ones may develop infections or refuse eating and starve.
In adition, buying from the WC market promotes the capture and imporation of more animals. The ones you buy will be subtituted by more poor WC animals...

Before you decide, since you have some time until you learn enough(ALWAYS learn as much as you can before you even think about buying an animal), you may want to se if someone in NZ is breeding these newts and can give you, or sell you, some nice, healthy, CB ones.

 

[axylottie]

these are 1cm long, and from a breeder, not a pet store

 

[Azhael]

Very good news to hear that they come from a breeder!
They can´t possibly be 1cm long and be juveniles, though....with that size they should be freshly hatched larvae.

Tiny juveniles of this species are very delicate and require quite a lot of patience (trust me...). I would not consider them apropriate for begginners. They require TINY foods, they are shy and for the most part very picky. It can be very disheartening to see them die despite all the effort invested on them.
If you decide to get them nevertheless, be prepared for a long, tiresome journey hehe. Mind you, the rewards are way worth it.

 

[axylottie]

Sorry, meant to say 3 cm long. They have morphed

 

[axylottie]

and thanks everyone for the help. It is much appreciated. Will be going to find some good books on FBN later on today.

 

[Azhael]

Sadly, literature on this species is very scarce and for the most part, outdated.
You can find a vast wealth of information and first hand experience in this forum, particularly in the Cynops section and the Caudata Culture articles.
If you haven´t had previous experience raising tiny, terrestrial juveniles, i strongly recommend that you prepare yourself to exhaustion before diving into it (both reading and learning, and setting up the microfood cultures).

 

[firefly]

I copy that. I bought 5 eggs two weeks ago, newly laid. A week ago, one of the tiny larvae slipped out of it's egg sac when I was transferring it into a fresh container. It's still alive thank goodness, and has a couple of tiny daphnia in with it but it seems reluctant to eat. It still has a tiny bit of yolk sac reserve on its tummy. The other four are still in egg sacs but appear ready to hatch. I gently pump air into this little guys container (its very small, a small plastic tumbler with 2 inch of water) twice a day and change 50% of the water every other day, transferring it to a clean container twice a week. It's labour intensive but I love it. I have a microworm culture going from Dartfrog which should be ready in a couple of days. I'm retired so have loads of time on my hands, & it's certainly better than knitting. I can't wait for the other eggs to hatch.

Does this routine sound ok?? This is my first experience of keeping amphibians.

Thx

 

[axylottie]

I'm on holiday from university studies, and have recently hatched axolotls that are doing well. I wanted to try a different species. But I'm going to try find out more info about these before buying more pets.

 

[ebonykrow]

Go for it, my babies are growing strong effortlessly. Daphnia and the smaller whiteworms do the trick, good luck.

P.S I love Wellington, can't wait to visit again!