Newt ID and some Q's

D

devon

Guest
Hey everyone,

My name's Devon (girl Devon, not a guy Devon)...I'm 16, and run an animal rescue called "The McDonald Animal Rescue and Sanctuary" and a Gerbillry called "Crazy Critters Gerbil Clan".

A couple months ago, a newt was dropped off at my house in a filthy five gallon aquarium. I have never had a newt before, but I am experienced with frogs, so I decided to keep him instead of adopt him out. They told me that he is a fire belly newt, but he obviously isn't...he's 5.5 inches long.

He now lives in a 25 gallon tall, with land area...the water area is probably about 15 gallons, probably a little more. His land area is 1ft x 5 inches, with some very shallow water pools and silk plants to hide in. He lives with a large snail. He used to have a goldfish in there, but he managed to catch up to it, and eat it.

I bought a whisper in-tank filter for the tank today, and a three inch long red and white oranda goldfish. He can't get his mouth around her, he's already tried. haha. The fish didn't even seem to notice him mouthing her side for a couple seconds before giving up and swimming away to eat the easier-to-catch cricket.

Here are some pictures of my newt and tank...I am very bad at taking pictures with this camera, so it made the tank look a little less...attractive. haha.

http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL165/2178388/4246719/88372560.jpg (TANK)

http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL165/2178388/4246719/88372570.jpg (NEWT)

http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL165/2178388/4246719/88372527.jpg (NEWTS BELLY)

Right now, I am feeding him freeze dried shrimp, bloodworms, small live crickets (which he loves), and small beheaded mealworms.

Does anyone have any care corrections for me? Any comments about my goldfish addition? Anyone know what type of newt he is? (lets use common names for now, Im just a newt newb)

I know that he is a type of warty newt, but I am having trouble narrowing it down to a specific. Some say he looks most like a Chinese warty newt, but I looked at the pictures on this site : http://www.livingunderworld.org/caudata/database/salamandridae/paramesotriton/index.shtml
and he doesn't look like any of the Chinese Warty Newts. He looks exactly like this one, however:

http://www.livingunderworld.org/gallery/photos/caudata/salamandridae/paramesotriton/deloustali/paramesotriton_deloustali_forwood_3.jpg

But that doesn't really make sense. The site says that the Tam Dao Warty newt (the above newt) is very rare...I'm really confused now.

We just spent about 20 mins comparing the newt to pictures, and he still looks most like the Tam Dao.

Help?
 
first of all take the goldfish out, it will produce more ammonia then the newt can handle, you seem to be feeding him a good selection of foods.

i can't seem to be able to up load the pictures, but i can tell you that it probably isn't a Tam Dao warty newt, apart from the fact that they are really massive for a newt, up to 9 inches i believe, they are also very rare in captivity.
 
Looks pretty much like the one I just got...

32147.jpg


I thought he may be a Vietnam newt as well, but consensus here seems to be that he's a Hong Kong newt. I'm thinking of taking mine to the University of Victoria just to make sure. Have to phone and make sure that they have someone who knows their caudates first :D
 
Really...? I've read a lot about keeping goldfish with newts, and the majority of what I've read said that they'll be fine together, if I make sure I keep up with my water changes...which I will. I do a 50% water change every week, and my ammonia has never been high.
 
Thanks for the welcome everyone
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I'm really reluctant to take my oranda out of the newt tank...they don't even seem to notice eachother, and the fish adds so much to the tank. I've noticed that he also seems to keep the water cleaner, as he eats any leftover bloodworms or flakes. The filter I have in there works wonderfully and I siphon the gravel every second day. I haven't noticed any negative things about keeping the goldfish in the newt tank...the water area of the tank is so large that they are rarely ever in the same place together, and when they are, they don't even interact.

I suppose I could take the goldfish out, but I don't see any reason too. I keep tree frogs and other types of amphibians and am usually totally against mixing species, but I have been really careful about adding the goldfish to the newt tank, and everything seems to be going wonderfully.

If I keep up with the frequent water changes and spot cleaning, do you think it would be alright?

oh, and btw, I tried minnows in with the newt, but he managed to corner them and eat them.
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The goldfish is to large.

(Message edited by ccgerbilclan on March 09, 2005)
 
someone posted not long ago about a goldfish which bit the leg off a newt after co existing peacefully until then, believe us we've seen these thing happen to other people, i know i'd hate it to happen to anyone else
 
What kind of newt? I don't think my goldfish could even fit my newts leg into his mouth...and my newt is pretty er...jumpy. If you touch him, he shoots to the other side of the tank and raises off the ground, expecting a cricket. He's quite the hunter. heh.
 
that was a cynops sp. (fire belly) i really don't like the idea of having the goldfish in there, but it sounds like you might have to find out the hard way
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Well, I'm homeschooled so I'm always by my tanks. ..I'll keep a really close eye on them for a week, and see how it goes. I'll test the water in a week, and if the ammonia is high, then I'll take the fish out and buy a large rubbermaid to keep it in...
 
Gah, ok, you've scared me into seperating them
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He added so much to the tank, though...would zebra danios be alright..?
 
Plus Zebra Danios should be fine with your newt, if it was up to me i wouldnt keep any fish in my tank :p
 
Alright, well, IM going out to buy some whiteclouds and danios...and a ten gallon, for the goldfish. How long (if at all) should I quarantine the fish? Can I buy some guppies to feed the newt?
 
im too too sure about quarantining the fish, i only asked the question out of pure random chat,sorry
 
Devon, I to live in Edmonton, and Ive been looking around all the local pet stores for newts. I make the usual friday rounds since thats when everyone gets their new shipments in. Do you know where the people who dropped off the newt bought it from? PJ's have been getting in alot of P hongkongensis, and thats what yours looks like. I have 4 of them, plus I picked up a P chinensis from Paradise pets in St Albert. Your newt looks alot like my 4 P hongkongensis.
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Hi Devon,

Whiteclouds are your best bet for newt cohabitation. Very peaceful and hardy. If you want guppies, the "non-fancy" ones are hardier than the "fancies". I would quarantine fish for at the very least a month. Your goldfish will need to be upgraded to bigger tanks as they grow (best for their optimum health). Goldfish grow BIG, and a 10g tank is really just a "starter" home. I have commons, and fancies, that started out at 1" a year and half ago, and some are now upto 8" long. Sounds like your animals will have a really nice home.
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