Questions about habitat

[lady]

I was wondering if anyone knew some good sites for finding elements of habitats for newts. None of the major pet stores seem to have anything for amphibian habitats and I was wondering if there were any sites dedicated to amphibian, or just newts, habitat products. Thanks!!

-Lady Eadaoin

 

[jennifer]

There are some web sites with amphibian products, but they are all 100% geared toward frogs. Generally, you start with an aquarium with a fluorescent light and either a hood or screen top. From there, you get to be creative. You can use glass/plexiglass plates, rocks, bricks, cork bark, plant pots, dog bowls, etc., to make an interesting setup. Here are some pages with pictures:
http://members.cox.net/jpmacke/tankpics.htm
http://www.caudata.org/caudatecentral/tanks/setups.html
Keep in mind that the amount of land/water area you need depends very much on what species you are keeping.

 

[lady]

Thanks Jennifer. Yea, that's what I kept runing into when I searched. Right now I've got one P. hongkongensis in a 5 gallon aquarium. I also have a 10 gallon that used to house my gerbils, but I need to resilicone it before I can even think about putting any water in it. (the gerbils LOVE to scratch at it) I definitely want to make a sectioned tank. Right now I've got a small aquarium pump/filter that is working as a very good waterfall to keep a current going. Once I get some pictures uploaded, I'll try to post them so you can see the current setup. I'm moving soon so I really don't want to set up the sectioned tank until I've moved, so it will be easier on Notch(my newt) and I. Thanks again! I'll keep looking!!!

 

[jennifer]

In my opinion, it does not make sense to make a sectioned tank with a 10-gallon. (Also, 10-gallon tanks are so cheap I wouldn't risk resiliconing it). The problem is that you end up with a water area that is only holding 2 gallons or so. It's better to build in some kind of platform (put the glass plate in horizontally) that gives an island without sacrificing water area. From your other post, I gather that you have a warty newt. They don't really need much land.

 

[lady]

Thanks, I really can't go with anything much bigger, since I am moving and will be condensing two rooms worth of stuff down to 1, which will include my two gerbil cages. From what I've seen with him, he seems to like to stay in the water, I haven't seen him out at all. And with the silicon, it's at the very bottom of the corners where they scratched it off. My dad has had aquariums and terrariums all is life (though he doesn't live with us now) i'll have him look at it and see if it will work. I'm on a limited budget (ie student with crapy retail job) so i gotta work with what i got!

And yes, he is a P.Hongkongensis!