Two questions about smooths and alpines

[Jantje Beton]

Hello all,

As you may know I've been keeping some newts for a while now and I got some questions about them...

1) I know that once larvae newts lose their gills they basically become landanimals and seem to dislike (swimming in) water for a couple of years. Five of nine newts I have seem to prefer water over land though. I have five alpines and four smooths, all juvenile. Some of them even had gills or gill marks when I found them in my garden. Four of the five are alpines, 1 is a smooth. There is also a smooth newt who seems to go in water or land whenever he/she pleases. So, my newts seem to kinda contradict the average newt. Is this alright?

2) Personally, for me it would be a lot easier if the other 3/4 newts go into the water as well. What would happen with them if I took out the terrestrial part and filled my tank only with water? I noticed that whenever I clean the tank I put all 9 newts in a small plastic box with water. The five aquatic newts (and the semi aquatic one) go under water, but the other 3 just float. Will they continue doing that until they die? Or will they accept they're in an aquatic place and go live underwater?

 

[sergé]

Seems you are keeping your animals in a country where it is illegal to keep native species... So better release them where you caught them and stick to species that you are allowed to keep.

 

[Jantje Beton]

hello Sergé, as I explained in the topic about smooth newts I actually got them from my own pond and garden. We're busy redoing the whole garden and we found some juvenile and larvae newts while we were spitting the earth and draining the pond. I captured some of them. The new garden will have two ponds (or maybe even a third very small, but pretty deep one to store mosquito larvae, isopods, daphnia, etc)... I think it will be a place the newts will like. I'm only keeping the newts captive until the garden is finished.