Our new pet

Well, I'm flattered, but everything's relative, so I'm an expert if compared with an absolute beginner but I'm an absolute beginner compared with the likes of Ed
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I'm still only in my third year as full-fledged caudate enthusiast, and it seems only yesterday that Jen, Ralf and to some extent Nate were mentoring me in this hobby with the utmost of patience...

I'm almost embarrassed to show my Taricha setup as it's so simple:

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They've never shown an interest in land so all they have left now is an artificial lily float. They always seem pretty content though. I'll only declare them fully content once they breed for me
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Now that we're engaged in flattery, I might add regarding Pin-Pin that here's somebody worthy of emulation in that she takes such joy in keeping only a few newts despite her love for them. There are people around that think anybody who keeps 100+ newts should be burned at the stake...

She, by the way, penned the Taricha Torosa caresheet located at:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Taricha/T_torosa.shtml

Do you have any pics of your Taricha setup, Pin-pin?

(Message edited by tj on August 27, 2004)
 
Pin Pin,
I almost always defer to the experts in their chosen field.
Tim,
I would defer to you on some of the species you are working with particuarly as you have seen the habitats in which they live.

Ed
 
Ed's comment on me much is too flattering since I'm relatively new to the field but have lots of <strike>what Dot calls "unhealthy"</strike> enthusiasm.

Pin², it's ok. You've been posting some non-Taricha stuff lately, so your enthusiasm isn't quite as unhealthy as it was. And you're still the number one afficionado of Taricha.

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How do I check the water quality? The same way I do with my fish tank?
Stephanie
PS You guys are hilarious! You are ALL experts compared to me.
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Stephanie:

Yes....test for Ph, hardness ammonia nitrite and nitrate. The last 3 are the most important. If the setup becomes stable, you could hold off testing so many times...but pull out the test kit if something seems wrong.

Tim: Do I see correctly that a half filled ten gallon is on a rack like that? I always assumed something like that would cause major problems. I have something quite similar(keeps my plants and is mean't for restaraunts....but never thought of putting tanks on it.
 
Hi Joseph,
I use racks both at home and at work for all of my enclosures.

Ed
 
Ed: I was under the impression that a tank would need support all the way around the rim and that something like this would damage it?
 
Paris, I actually meant me though I also had you in mind
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Having said that though, it's not a difficult list to get on, as anybody who has ever kept axolotls or P.waltl for any length of time can testify
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Joseph, it really depends on the strength of the shelves. I've seen the brand I have commonly used for tanks. I don't use them for my main tanks, and I do consider them kind of makeshift, but they do they job. I'd think twice about putting a fully filled tank on one though.


(Message edited by tj on August 28, 2004)
 
Well, I'm perplexed about my pet Steve. I know I asked this before, but I can't remember if anyone answered it or not... What do salamanders look like when they sleep? I keep thinking mine is dead, his eyes almost sink into his head. It's weird.
I tried to feed him a mini-earth worm today. I was so excited! My daughter and I found one in the yard and rushed to give it to him. Everyone has spoken so highly of earth worms. I haven't had a chance to find a store that sells them yet, so finding one in our yard was fantastic. I gently set Steve in a seperate tank to feed him so the worm couldn't swim away. Steve was NOT impressed. He completely ignored it. I think he was annoyed that I interupted his nap! LOL I didn't cut up the worm because it was so small. Maybe I should have and he would have smelled the yuck n' guts! I put Steve back in his tank thinking the worst. He wasn't interested in the live black worms and now he doesn't want an earthworm. He just wanted to sit out of the water on the log and play dead.
Now, later this evening he is off the log and busy as ever swimming around. (NOT frantically, just busy.) I'm going to get the black worms out again and see what happens. I'll keep ya posted.
Stephanie
PS I have no idea why my daughter chose the name Steve. That's my Dad's name, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. Once a name is chosen, my kids are really stubborn and won't change their minds. Our two hermit crabs are named "Hermie" and "Crabby"! REALLY ORIGINAL!
 
Hey, How do you feed the live black worms? Do you just put them in the tank or what?
I saw a feeder of some sort at the pet store, but the sales lady said it would work for salamanders. I just feed Steve the black worms and he isn't eating.
He should be very hungry by now. He has been out of his natural environment for almost 10 days now and I'm not sure he's eaten anything yet.
HELP!
Stephanie
 
these guys really love frozen bloodworm cubes-you can get those at any pet shop-but check the package for quality -some will have ones that sat out before put in the freezer -if they are a nice red while frozen then they are good. i have given them live blackworms before - but they are hard to catch after the main batch is eaten. the frozen bloodworm cubes are excellent for exciting the feeding response. one cube per newt is good for mine - 3-4 times a week.

newts when sleeping -on land or off- will tuck both arms up, elbows in the air and eyes shut -but the mouth will still move up and down -even under water - i have never seen them do this for more than 2-3 mins. other than this i have never seen them outright 'sleep' as you would expect a bird, mouse or lizard. they may be sleeping when they sit still with eyes open -but the only rest i have seen with closed eyes is the one i describe above.
 
Ira, it might be ok that Steve is not eating for the first two weeks...he's been taken out of his natural habitat, roughed up by those kids you took him from, and now plopped into a new tank. Keep a vigilant eye on his water quality and the temperature (how hot is it in your house?)--while 80F is fine for us, it's terrible for your little guy. Keep trying for a few minutes each day to offer him a bit of worm and if everything is good, he'll start taking interest in the food.

I'd also not recommend that you take him out of his tank to feed him, he probably views this as an aggressive gesture. Think of it: if aliens came by and grabbed you out of your house, then offered you a sandwich, you probably wouldn't grab it and take a bite. You'd have your mind on other things, even if you were kinda hungry.

For the record, there's other Taricha afficionados, and very good experts who consistently lurk around these forums (Dr. Uwe, in Germany for instance)
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I'm just the most...er, vocal about it.
 
I haven't taken any photos of my recent set-up, but here's a photo of "Einstein" (as in, "he's no Einstein..."
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):

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As you can see, I'm keeping my juvenile terrestrial, so Tim's aquatic photo is better for your purposes.

I've since changed half of the tank to water, and will be trying a gentle "introduction" to an aquatic environment this fall.

If you're on a good connection, I do have a movie of feeding him a white worm (small guy). This is how I feed worms to him, even now, just bigger worms.
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http://www.caudata.org/people/apples/torosa_vs_worm1.MOV
 
I found a more recent set-up (1.5 months ago) with some different moss. (Einstein has a habit of digging under the moss and uprooting them...it's very funny to watch a clump of moss all of a sudden wiggle during the day.)

The moss in this current set-up have been more resistant to digging.

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Helicopter shot...
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PinPin
I have moved my baby grans to an aquatic environment and they are doing just fine. At first they were all hiding on the small land portion I had given them but within three to 4 days most of them became aquatic. I was afraid I had made the wrong choice, but lo and behold. Now they are all grown up and fight over food ...which they never did on land. I figure I have 5 males and 2 females and all are getting quite large, many of my males are over 4 inches.
I want more, I think I will try to breed my adults again this year. This way I will feel more willing to share.

Stephanie
When Steve stands tall and holds his head up, this is generally part of the defensive posture. He is showing you his bright underbelly, a sign of his toxicity. Also it is best not to remove him for feeding purposes because the less you handle a Taricha the better, as they produce a very potent neurotoxin.
Good luck with Steve, and hopefully he eats soon. A tip on food - I buy my worms at a local fishing bait shop not at the pet store, they are cultivated locally and are pesticide free.

Tara
 
Hi Joseph,

Lets see if I can explain this correctly,
As long as the tank is not on a stand supplied by the company, you void the warrenty anyway.
If you are filling the tank most of the way full of water then the whether the tank is level or not is what is important. If it is level then the weight (and pressure) of the water is evenly distributed which is what is needed for safety.
If the tank is only partially filled with water then the pressure is much less and the tank can even be slanted (although is not to manufacturers recommendations). I have set-up several hundred tanks this way over the years and have not had a problem.
The weight of the aquarium needs to be taken into consderation as the easily availble racks from Home Depot and Lowes can only take 350 pounds per shelf (at about 8 lbs per gallon) so several ten gallon tanks can be accomodated.
The commercially available shelfs for the restauraunt industry can hold much heavy loads (and are available in widths of up to 48 inches (but are also way more expensive)).

Ed
 
Yeah, I have one of the restaurant ones...but since it is near the window I doubt it will work for newts.

I have a ten gallon on a sturdy bookshelf, and beside it is another area perfect for another 10 gallon...I would never put another aquarium there but with a paludarium it might work.
 
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