Some advice on firebelly and Noto sp.

[ajr104]

Hello all!

As I said in the intro board, I am unexpectedly the owner of two newts, one Cynops orientalis and one Notophthalmus sp. The story of how I came to own these is long but essentially comes down to some friends of friends being very mis-informed when sold these guys, a shame but quite a common occurrence in the UK. I am now their owner...

I am not new to keeping amphibians, I have bred many frogs in the past, mostly Hyla and Hyperolius, but a few oddballs too, but I am completely new to keeping newts!

The two newts live together and are completely terrestrial, they are both about 2.5inches. I have re-made their 20"x10" tank so they now have a substrate of damp moss, hides of cork bark and a shallow water dish that probably takes up 70% of the tank. They are in good condition, the firebelly is particularly rounded! I will transfer the photos shortly, they are still on my phone. I have only had them a few days but I am feeding them chopped earthworms and bloodworm (on a stick!) and they seem to eat well.

My question is - how long do these species remain terrestrial? How do I know when they want to go aquatic? Is there anything else I need to know that will change my newt keeping life?

I have read care sheets, very useful, though not sure which species of Noto I have, maybe the coming pictures will help I hope.

Thanks for your help!
Adam

 

[ajr104]

Pictures...

 

[jane1187]

Hello and welcome to newt keeping!

I think your best bet is probably setting up something semi-aquatic with quite a large land area, but a large water area too. This way the newts can turn aquatic (which they will do) at whatever time they like. There are many threads about set-ups so there's plenty of inspiration out there. My first semi-aquatic used a piece of cork bark as the floating land area.

Once they are aquatic your land area can serve them as and when they need it.

Also I'm not sure that Noto species that is as I am not familiar with the family as a whole. It will definitely be worth having someone ID the species and them make sure you do some research.

Hope this helps

 

[evut]

It's great that the newts are eating, and that you are giving them earthworms which are very healthy for them.

Regarding housing, you should prepare two separate tanks for them - it is recommended to keep different species of newts separately. The noto might strangle or drown the firebelly if it tries to mate with it and there are also issues with toxins.

To see if the animals are willing to live aquatically, you should offer a lot more water than a dish. To start with, you could fill the tank with about 2 - 3 inches of water, put in lots of aquatic plants (elodea or hornwort are good for this) and create islands with stones, brick or slate. The main thing is that they can feel safe in the water by sitting close to the surface in the plants. One of these should be large enough to have a hide for them if they choose to stay on it. Also make sure you have a 100% escape-proof lid.

Read as much as you can on Caudata Culture - the articles will explain most things you need to know about keeping newts.