My paramesotriton

[ajfr0ggy]

Taking photos of these isnt as easy as you would have thought. Most people find that they are too shy, quite the opposite with mine!

One of the females was too busy climbing the powerhead!

The only one which doesnt come to greet me is chris's old male.

He is deffinatly a different race to my others, you can see he has the yellow edge.
Heres on of my original males:

(c) AJfr0ggy

 

[joeri]

Nice pictures

 

[juraj]

Nice guys, congrats !

 

[chris]

Yeah
All my paramesotritons are much more shy than yours (except three from a recent import). I have found that animals recently acquired from petshops are very friendly, begging for food etc, but as they settle down do the opposite of most caudates, and become more and more wary. They seem to be more bold in the breeding season, particularly males, but outside the breeding season the females are more friendly. Mine stay still, neither greeting nor running, unless I touch the water. They then scatter untill they realise I have a juicy worm/forceps full of bloodworm and then they dash out to grab it.
You are lucky to have such a peaceful group. I had a pair of very dark Paramesotriton (probably coastal population P. chinensis) who were fine during the breeding season, but had to be separated once the male came out of condition. This reflects Rehak's observations of P. deloustali in the article Juraj kindly translated...
One factor could be that you have quite a dense population. It has been noted in territorial newts (esp. Pachytriton and to a lesser extent Paramesotriton) that dense populations override the territorial urge as there is not enough space for a territory to be claimed. Although this is good for keeping colonies, it may have effects on breeding success...
sorry, I have rambled on a bit...I love Paramesotriton as Mike Graziano loves Ambystoma...
Chris

 

[anthony]

hi have you got a picture of the tank thanks tony.

 

[alan]

I suspect the behavior is also affected by tank furnishings. Lots of the cover and they behave shy, more open setup and they seem much bolder. This is quite common with fish too.

 

[joseph]

I always observed it was the other way around. Ever watched shy fish in a crowded store tank with one place to hide?

 

[alan]

The usual case is large shoal of fish in a bare shop tank all swimming around. Bring home a small number and put them in a planted tank and they disappear - because they can. Natural predator avoidance behavior.

 

[chris]

Newts I have put in bare tanks become skittish and poor feeders, while animals with plenty of hiding places feel more secure as they know they have a place to hide if they need it and are therefore more bold...
Species and individuality probably also come into the equation. My Paramesotriton setup is identical (practically) to AJ's, but has on;y 2 newts in it. Agreed, they are a different species, but they spend all day under rocks and come out to hunt at night.
Chris