Territorial aggression?

[sharon]

was in the store today gettin a free bunny when i saw the japanese firebelly all alone in the huge tank. had to buy him. got 30 percent off just cuz i work there anyways, the newtbie is in his own container just to make sure hes healthy, altho he has been eating my boss said and it was a pain to try and catch him. lively lil bugger. hes slightly bigger then the one i have. when it comes time to introduce him in my newts tank, will my newt view him as an intruder and attack him? I prolly shoulda waited and asked before i bought him but i couldnt help myself.

 

[jennifer]

Are you sure he's the same species as the ones you already have? If they are all truly firebellies, they should get along fine. Sometimes paddletails (which have red bellies) are sold as firebellies and they will attack anything. The safest would be to quarantine for about 4 weeks, then if everybody is healthy, put with the others.

 

[sharon]

im positive the one i have is a japanese firebelly. The one i bought today is slightly bigger and all the pics i looked at indicate he is a japanese firebelly but one that doesnt match, is the one i bought today has bumpier skin and i tried searchin and i cant find anything with that texture. Do older firebellies have rougher skin then younger ones? nether of them are paddletails.

My new one is in a seperate container. i offered him some glassworms and he gobbled em up.

 

[jennifer]

JFB usually have bumpy skin. In some cases it might get bumpier with age, but even at 2 years old (quite young for a newt) it can be quite bumpy. Chinese FB have smoother skin and are smaller. But the sizes and skin textures can vary for both species.

 

[chris]

Could be paramesotriton. Is it's belly black spots on orange belly or orange spots on black belly? I believe that firebellies have black spots, and paramesotriton have orange spots on their bellies.
Chris

 

[sharon]

both have bright orangish red spots on black bellies
and both have a small notch out of the top near the end of their tails. whats up with the notches?

i held teh container holding my new newt up to the glass of my other newts tank and my other newt tried attacking him. could it be that ijust have this individual newt that is a miserable lil bugger?

 

[nate]

You have Paramesotritons, the notches probably came from bite injuries. Paramesotritons are naturally very aggressive, particularly the males. To house them together as peacefully as possible, you're going to need a very large tank with lots of hiding places.