Rescue Newts! Species? Gender?

[misslyss]

Hey guys! I'm in a bit of a predicament. I have 2 new Newts/Salamanders who were falsely dubbed "Fire Belly Newts" which brings about some questions.

1. What species are they exactly?
2. Are they male or female?
3. What are the chances of them breeding if opposite sexes?
4. Lastly, WHEN WILL THE PETSTORES HIRE STAFF EDUCATED IN THEIR PRODUCT?

Heres the story, while simply buying medication for my last Petstore rescues, Betta Splendeds who developed fin rot due to the disgusting living environment and small cups in which they were housed, I found myself subconsciously scanning the pet store isles and came across two oddly sized "Fire Belly Newts" curled into the corner of an over stocked aquarium. Note: The 2 newts were being housed with 2 different species of toads and very large crickets and had wounds from both crickets and toads. I've had FBNs in the past so I know from experience they do not get that big! These guys are around 4-5 inches long from nose to tip of tail, and the blotches of red, seen commonly in FBNs, are more like spots of red and orange. Needless to say I bought them both, and dropped $50.00 on a suitable home without meddling toads or carnivore crickets.

I've done my research and I believe them to be Paddle Tail Newts, but I could use a second opinion! Its hard to see detail in the individual pictures because they were taken on my mac computer but in the picture with both salamanders on my hand you can see the one on the left is larger and has a much bigger head than the one on the right. I believe the larger to be female while the smaller to be a male. Help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Otterwoman]

I think it is Paramesotriton chinensis (warty newt). I can't really tell the sexes. There is a possibility they might mate but it's not big. I have a pair that I had for a while and they finally laid eggs this year, but they were not fertile. But maybe next time!

 

[achiinto]

I agree that this is a warty newt, not Paddle Tail.

Make sure you cage them well, as they will escape. Let us know if you have further questions.

 

[misslyss]

Thanks for the replies and species information! The only other question I have is how much water vs land there should be in their home. They seem to prefer being in their mossy land patch, rather than water, but 1/3 of their home is underwater. Should I change this? Thanks again!

Oh, and their cage is very secure with a clasping lid .

 

[Otterwoman]

They are pretty much fully aquatic, and just need maybe a floating bark or something to haul out on occasionally. Maybe they are out of the water for some other reason (stressed, water parameters).

 

[misslyss]

"Dorsal colour is uniform dark olive green or grey to dark brown, occasionally with darker patches on body and tail, and small orange dots irregularly scattered on the sides. In the land form the dorsal colour is uniformly black (Chang & Boring, 1935). Ventral side bluish-black, with small, unequal, irregular yellow-orange spots on the chin, neck, belly and underside of the legs. Underside of the tail is reddish-yellow, interrupted with dark patches."

I pulled this out of the species description, and this seems to suite them. Could it be possible they prefer land over water because they are in terrestrial form rather than semi aquatic? They have no problrm being submerged and feed while in the water as well as on land. Although their preference is in their cave in the moss and dirt, not in the water, even though I do semi water changes very often, and the levels are on point as well as the temperature.

"In the land form the dorsal colour is uniformly black (Chang & Boring, 1935)."

science . naturalis - chinensis

 

[Jennewt]

It sounds as if they have a habitat where they can choose between water and land. I would follow their lead and let them choose. If the land area provides the best hiding places, that could explain their choice. In the wild, they may live part of the year on land, so that could also explain their choice.