Raising Triturus juveniles aquatic

[Stupot1610]

This post is regarding newts of the genus Triturus. I know a lot of people raise Triturus sp. aquatic as juveniles which seems to work very well. My question is, does temperature affect development as juveniles? I assume it would as it does in other stages. Most of the time when Triturus are raised aquatic they mature within a year, but would this be the case if they were raised in water at about 10c instead of at room temp ? I plan on raising a group of juveniles of a few species aquatic at both room temperature and outside just to see what happens - probably 15 juveniles in each condition if I am able to raise enough.

 

[otolith]

Metabolism will be lower at 10C and development/growth will therefore be slower than animals kept at a warmer temperature. I did a similar experiment last year with a few karelinii. I raised the majority of larvae indoors at 68F with constant access to food and all morphed within 4 months of hatching. A handful were kept outdoors in a 15gal pond tank. As of January all were still small (1.5") larvae, water temp was 45F or cooler most of the winter. The outdoor larvae have since perished but it demonstrates how variable development can be. I won't be doing it again this year.