New pachytritons...my first.

[gord]

I dropped by my neighbourhood pet store last Friday for a look see.Just on a whim.There in a bag waiting to be dumped in a tank were 12 paddle tail newts. I quietly freaked, as I've never seen them for sale,but left empty handed. I've had a 20 gallon tank running but empty for quite a while but had hoped to put a colony of CFB in. But 2 CFB is not a colony. So it stayed empty.

So after thinking about it all weekend,I went and bought 3 on Monday. They were all in excellent health, and there were several large ones.They had them as "Crocodile Newts" for $12. The gal there said they had removed the two largest ones as the were "being bad". The two mature males did not look happy in there little jail.

I told her what I knew about them re. aggression and she didn't seem too impressed. I picked three smaller ones,knowing that I will likely have to separate them at some point. But I couldn't just do a pair.I feel bad that the rest will quite likely end up in community fish tanks...and dead.

So if anyone wants some labiatus..drop me a line asap by email. Maybe I can be a middle man.

I've put in many hides,so maybe I'll be able to keep them together for now.

Gord

p.s I was going to attach pics but my computer keeps blocking the upload attachment.Sorry.

 

[jennifer]

If you really cannot upload photos, try putting some on Photobucket and give us the links. Then again, your computer may block uploads to photobucket too. There should be a way to disable the blockage to specific websites.

Good luck with the newts, keep us posted.

 

[audrey]

Good luck with your paddletails. Watch them closely for aggression. I had four in a 20gal long aquarium with lots of hiding places and lets just say that now I only have 1

 

[gord]

Audrey: So far so good..but it could be just the calm before the storm.

Jen:The lap top I downloaded the pics on is blocking the little pop up thing. I tried to disable the blocker but it still would not work. So I'll try on my old desk top computer.But it does not like to talk to my new digital camera.

The newts are looking good though!

GE

 

[ian]

hi gord...i have five in a 3 foot tank they range from 14 cm down to 11cm. there is quite a few hiding places and the tank is heavily planted with elodea (canadian pond weed).theres a few tussles at feed time but apart from that no problems.i know this is probably the opposite of what you have read about them but i can only tell you about my experience with them, maybe i have just been lucky and have the only five placid paddle tails in captivity...

 

[erik]

I always keep them in groups with little trouble. The trick is to watch them closely the first month and remove any troublemakers. You might have to try a few different combinations of individual specimens and sex ratios before you get it right. The more TIGHT hiding places the better.

I have 6 tanks of various Pachyrtritons, from 15-55 gallons, all with multiple specimens.

 

[kyle]

Gord, you may already have tried this, but when you hit the Upload Attachment button, hold down the ctrl button, it should temporarily unblock the pop up it thinks its trying to save you from.

If you're using windows anyway.

 

[gord]

okay..here goes....

 

[gord]

A sad turn for my new pachytriton.Two of three came down with an awful slime disease that included patchy shedding.It happened very quickly and one was dead within 12 hours of going into quarantine.

I'm not sure if there was something in the tank...(it had cynops in before many months ago) or if they brought it with them.

The largest one is still alive, and is not slimy, but it is not well. It's not eating.

Just goes to show that just because they look healthy in the shop doesn't mean they are.

GE