N.Kaiseri,water,land?

[Red Eft14]

Hey I have yet another question.When should N.Kaiseri be kept on land and when should it be kept in water?What I mean by that is like which months should it be kept on land and water?I tryed to find this info out by my self but I could'nt.I'am also attempting to breed them so what temps should they go through on land and water?Thanks.

 

[Linus]

Hey Eft! In the wild as I understand it they only go aquatic for spring/early summer and then their habitat starts to dry up and they're basically forced to go terrestrial for the rest of the year. Some people keep them aquatic year round and still successfully breed them! You can slowly reduce the amount of water in their enclosure and then place them in a terrestrial setup for wintering. I've heard people cooling them to 45 degrees farenheit, no one truly knows. If you're planning on breeding most people believe a wintering process is critical. How old/big are your Kaiseri? You should check out sludgemonkeys work (Johnny O Farnen), he's far ahead of us, amazing source of info on Kaiseri. I'm going to attempt this year as well, mine are still currently aquatic.

Best of luck!
Eric

 

[Jennewt]

I've heard people cooling them to 25 degrees farenheit, no one truly knows.

Whoa! Be careful Eric, making a statement like that could result in someone killing their animals. No one should ever cool an animal below the freezing temperature (32F).

 

[Mark]

I take mine down to 10C (50F) during the winter months. In my experience they are more winter breeders than spring breeders, becoming aquatic in January and laying eggs Feb - March. By April egg laying should be over and I place mine back in a terrestrial tub until next January. I don't bother changing water levels, I just use a polystyrene floating platform during the transition phases from terrestrial to aquatic and vice versa. I basically treat them the same as Triturus.

 

[Linus]

Whoa, that was supposed to be 45 degrees. Typo! If I could edit i'd correct it.

 

[Kaysie]

Fixed. Even though you posted the correct number, better have it corrected in the post too in case someone is reading quickly and doesn't finish the thread!

 

[Red Eft14]

Ok thank yo sooo much!! I'am going to keep them in water for now because the previous person had them in water and they never lived on land.Don't want to stress them out.

 

[Red Eft14]

Or...should I keep them terristrial?I do plan on breeding them so I think I should keep them terrestrial now but I'am scared they could die from stress?

 

[Linus]

That decision is ultimately up to you eft, but in the wild they do go through the terrestrial period. Many people do keep them aquatic year round. People theorize it can shorten the overall lifespan of the newts because they're meant to have their wintering period.. just search through the Neurergus threads for more info on that

 

[Red Eft14]

Ok,I have them in a terrestrial setup now with eco-earth.I droped some waxworms in there.Like I said I hope they dont get stressed since the previous owner never made them go through the terrestrial period and always had them aquatic and they breed.

 

[Linus]

Cool! Make sure they have hides, cork bark works well

 

[Red Eft14]

Right now I have them in a 10 gallon with a layer of eco-earth.A few moss scattered around the tank and a hide log.Also a water bowl(small).I dropped some frozen bloodworms in the bowl and they also have'nt touched the waxworms either.And one of them climed all the way to the top of the tank.Good thing I have a screen cover,read in previous threads that they are escape artist's.Is that a sighn of stress that they're climbing,and how long will it take for them to settle in and eat?Guessing anywhere from 3-7 days?

 

[Mark]

On land they become rather shy and will find the darkest, safest place they can. Make sure you provide suitable hides for them to crawl under. As Eric suggests cork bark is great for this.

They are very unlikely to eat frozen bloodworms from a water dish and large waxworms might be a daunting prospect. To feed terrestrial kaiseri I work out where they like to hide and just dangle chopped earthworms at the hide entrance. Whatever you do don't lift up the hide because that makes them panic. All going well they will snatch worm chunks that can be safely reached from the hide. A toothpick or similar is useful for dangling a speared worm piece. Over time they may even become bold enough to emerge completely to feed.

This video shows mine eating worms which I place in front of the hide entrance. It takes quite a bit of patience to get to this stage and you'll need to start by offering a little closer to the hide. These days my adults will actually crawl up the side of tub to get a worm. They have no shame.

Texas worm massacre - YouTube

 

[Linus]

Hahaha I never knew that was your vid. Comment from "Colossus" is me.

 

[Linus]

As long as they have adequate places to hide they should settle in quite quickly. Next year you can slowly reduce the water level or even let it evaporate so it's not such a sudden event that they become terrestrial. How are they today?

 

[Red Eft14]

Oh ok thanks for the tips.I've seen that vid before in youtube many times lol.Also one was hideing in the hide log when I came home from school,the other was near the water dish.Also can I use red wigglers,I don't have anyother place to get regular earthworms.

 

[Linus]

Mine take red wigglers weekly, they seem to really enjoy them.

 

[Red Eft14]

Ok thats good to know,mine are 4 inches long from head to tail,how often do I feed?

 

[Linus]

I feed mine about every 2-3 days, to give them time to digest the last meal. They feed so readily I swear they'd eat themselves sick if I'd let them, but I don't obviously.

 

[Red Eft14]

O ok thanks.Thats good that they eat alot in a way lol.