setup for Lissotriton vulgaris vulgaris

[FRANCOIS]

Hello Folks, I will soon add to my zoo some Lissotriton vulgaris vulgaris, It will have of course its own set-up. Please help me build the best set-up possible and give me some info.
Temperature? Depth of water? Do they like still or moving water?
Thanks
Francois

 

[Molch]

How exciting! Do you get adults or juvies? I would think their temp preferences are in line with other European newts, preferably not much over 70 and a cool period in winter. They are a pond species, so I'd guess they don't like much water movement and lots of plants.

They are terrestrial in fall and winter, as far as I know, so you might want to keep hem in a terrestrial setup during those times and then in a water setup during spring.

Lovely species they are!

 

[FRANCOIS]

I am getting juvies. Glad they like plants as I have too much of them, I grow my own ;-)
Yes they are very cool, I used to have them in France when I was a teen, or maybe they were palmates, not 100% sure as they look so muck alike.
Thanks Molch!!! ;-)

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Mine are kept aquatic year round in a pond setup that has a sand bottom and is about 8 inches deep with lots of elodea, java moss, and hornwort. I give them a floating island but have yet to see them utilize it. As for temps, I don't let them get above 72-74f but during the winter their tank gets cold enough that a small layer of ice forms on it at times.

 

[FRANCOIS]

Mine are kept aquatic year round in a pond setup that has a sand bottom and is about 8 inches deep with lots of elodea, java moss, and hornwort. I give them a floating island but have yet to see them utilize it. As for temps, I don't let them get above 72-74f but during the winter their tank gets cold enough that a small layer of ice forms on it at times.

What do you mean a "pond setup" ? Is it outside? Would love to see some pics... thanks for the infos!

 

[froggy]

I think Justin means an aquarium set up like a pond, with still water and lots of plants. I would definitely keep juveniles terrestrial, though (I assume Justin is talking about adults). They will become tame very quickly and emerge from hides when you take off the lid to feed them.

Good luck!

 

[michael]

I do the juvenile lissotriton in a forest floor set up with lots of leaf litter and some drier hiding spots. I seed with springtails, dwarf isopods, and white worms. I also feed pinhead crickets, fruit flies, and chopped small earthworms. In the wild the metamorphs take off for drier habitat. In captivity some keepers have had decent results forcing juveniles to stay in or near the water. In my Lissotriton breeding setup I have floats and some artificial plants that come out of the water. I raise the larvae in the tank with the adults. When metamorphosed juveniles show up on the floats for a couple days I pluck them out and put them in a forest floor leaf litter set up.

 

[Mark]

Yes, as already mentioned, juveniles should be kept terrestrially in a forest floor type setup. Because they are very small newts you might want to raise them in a plastic tub (2-3 litres perhaps) with soil, moss, bark and secure, ventilated lid. Occasional misting should be enough, they wont use a water area unless they're dehydrated. They are prone to drowning as juveniles.

 

[rethgar]

The region they are from should roughly dictate the temepreature range,as they are pretty widespread across europe they cover a fairly wide range of temeperatures as with most newts it's heat rather than cold that's the killer. Really adults only go to ponds to breed in the wild (in the UK somewhere around April up to end of July) and remain terrestrial the remainder of the time. The larvae hid in thickly vegetated areas but if you eventually intend to breed them a clear area to allow mating display would be advisable with planting for egg laying (something small leaved). Until the juveniles are grown on a bit I would keep them entirely terrestrial in a woodland setup (as mentioned before) introducing water later on. They are found in a variety of habitats to be honest and as long as they have cover and abundant food they should do fine.
2-3 years is sexually mature although you still find immature adults in the ponds in the spring (practicing?!).
They'll cope with a light current but I don't think I've ever seen them in any waterbody with anything more than a very gentle inflow.
Amphibians and Reptiles by Trevor Beebee and Richard Griffiths has an excellent species account (if a little UK-centric)

 

[FRANCOIS]

Thank you for all the fast replies and infos!!! Looks like, until they become adults, their set-up should be pretty much the same as a juvenile T. marm

 

[Molch]

I do the juvenile lissotriton in a forest floor set up with lots of leaf litter and some drier hiding spots. I seed with springtails, dwarf isopods, and white worms. I also feed pinhead crickets, fruit flies, and chopped small earthworms. In the wild the metamorphs take off for drier habitat. In captivity some keepers have had decent results forcing juveniles to stay in or near the water. In my Lissotriton breeding setup I have floats and some artificial plants that come out of the water. I raise the larvae in the tank with the adults. When metamorphosed juveniles show up on the floats for a couple days I pluck them out and put them in a forest floor leaf litter set up.

I'll have white worms, fruit flies, chopped earthworms and some springtails for mine

are there special springtail species? My whiteworm cultures have lots of very tiny white springtails in them, but I don't know if those are the right kind...

do you think they'll take chopped blackworms if offered on a moist petri dish or a bare corner of the tub?

and those dwarf isopods - where can one get those?

 

[michael]

The springtails you have should be fine. Their are often dwarf isopods available on dendroboard.com

Chopped blackworms are o.k. but a mess if not eaten.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

I think Justin means an aquarium set up like a pond, with still water and lots of plants. I would definitely keep juveniles terrestrial, though (I assume Justin is talking about adults). They will become tame very quickly and emerge from hides when you take off the lid to feed them.

Good luck!

Thanks Chris, I was in fact referring to adults. Francois' post hadn't shown up when I posted so I wasn't aware he had juvies. That being said, I do raise my juvies aquatic as well. I don't like to advise this with people just starting out with this species though. They are kept in a very shallow container with maybe an inch of water with lots and lots of java moss to prevent drownings. I have experienced little to no losses using this method. I have also found that they grow quicker and are more robust. I'll look around for my pics comparing a terrestrial raised morph to an aquatic one so that you can see the size difference.

 

[caleb]

It's interesting that some people have had success with aquatic juveniles and adults- I've never had any success with keeping smooth newts (of UK origin) aquatic outside their breeding season, and other UK keepers I've spoken to have had similar experiences.

I find that once they decide to leave the water, they'll climb glass to get away, and can never be convinced to go back.

I have heard that the southern subspecies are much more aquatic- is it possible that southern individuals of v. vulgaris are similar? Is the country of origin known for the American animals?

 

[horsyqueen]

I find mine seem like to wood and used to love climbing it right to the top. also i had foating that they climb onto.

 

[Jake]

It's interesting that some people have had success with aquatic juveniles and adults- I've never had any success with keeping smooth newts (of UK origin) aquatic outside their breeding season, and other UK keepers I've spoken to have had similar experiences.

I find that once they decide to leave the water, they'll climb glass to get away, and can never be convinced to go back.

I have heard that the southern subspecies are much more aquatic- is it possible that southern individuals of v. vulgaris are similar? Is the country of origin known for the American animals?

I always raised mine fully aquatic and they did great. Justin is right about the terrestrial juveniles growing smaller. To me it is easier to feed frozen bloodworms, live blackworms and daphnia than it is to mess with tiny crickets, fruit flies and other tiny terrestrial foods. If the temperature in the water got higher than 70-72 degrees F the metamorphs would climb onto the cork floats and begin to climb the glass, but with cool water they never seemed to want to leave. The animals I kept (and I'm almost certain the ones Justin is keeping) are the Romanian subspecies, L. vulgaris ampelensis (my avatar pic).