Anyone Keep newts?

[aquakev]

I kept them as a kid with little succsess. Actually, they would work their way out of the little critter cages and Id find them dried up on the floor. I would like to try to keep them again and am wondering if anyone keeps them and know a suitable habitat.

Sorry if this is a little off topic.

Kevin

[Joey17]

I used to keep them. A 10 gallon tank would be a suitable tank for them. Half land and half water.

[TCTFish]

There is a reptiles advice forum and there is a link on the home page of AA here. I can give you tips on keeping newts.

In general, newts are cooler water animals and can be quite hardy. A river tank set up of half land and half water suited with lots of free floating vines and plants....wood bridges and moss caves...you can really get into some nice aqua land scaping. Instead of having the land on one side and water on the other, I just used small grain aquarium gravel and filled the tank half way and built land areas. I had a 60 gallon river tank for over 7 years...with some of the original animals. I kept firebelly newts and fire belly toads with schools of minnows. I had a water fall constructed in the center of everything and made it part of a home made filtering system. I used slate rock and a reptile cave topped with mats of peat moss. I had the filter out take hose fitted with a filter bag of carbon on top of the cave and hid it under some moss. On both sides were some larege pieces of wood across lava rock that served as supports for the wood. I had plants hanging down, floating, in the water. The water level was about half way or a tad bit lower than half way. The filter itself was at one end and had a simple water pump wedged in a large piece of foam to protect the intake from sucking up the substrate and getting clogged. Once or twice a week I rinsed the sponge in used tank water to get rid of the gunk build up. The tank was topped off to make up for evaporation.

I used a reptile cage for this that had screen tops. Reptile cages can only handle half the amount of water than what a regular aquarium can handle. The glass isn't as strong. So keep that in mind when looking for a tank. I liked the sliding screen tops so the when the newts climbed up the glass, they didn't wedge themselves along the inner edges of the screen and the tank. Can't do that with sliding screen tops.

The toads were fed crickets and bloodworms. The newts ate the blood worms mostly. I'm sure they helped themselves to a minnow here and there. They were fed about three times a week during the warmer weather. Twice a week during cooler weather and not at all during the winter months. I kept the tank in the garage (not used for cars) and went through the natural temperature changes of the seasons so they were able to hibernate. This is how they lived so long. They don't have to hibernate, but they are naturally hibernating animals. The hibernation rest period allows them to live well past their average life span in captivity of 3 to 4 years. Mine were 7 years old. I had to give them away when someone broke the tank. That was depressing

[acronym:5a1ea21663="By the way"]BTW[/acronym:5a1ea21663]...at the end of winter when the newts and toads came out of hibernation, some of them would lay eggs...and the fish ate the eggs. I didn't have to feed this tank often at all...[acronym:5a1ea21663="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:5a1ea21663]. I actually would go 3 to 5 months without feeding any food.

[acronym:5a1ea21663="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:5a1ea21663].

[czcz]

Based on your experience, how much of a 10gal has to be water for a group of fire-bellied newts? Do you think (approx) 2.5g of water, 4" deep in the corner of a 10gal is enough for one or two? Thank you.

[TCTFish]

A ten gallon was my first river tank with fire belly newts. Again, instead of having the water on one side and gravel pushed on the other, I filled the tank close to half way up and used things to create land areas above the water line.

There are plastic shelf like ornaments you can put in the tank. They hold on with suction cups and is raised up by a support stem. I think it is made by terra tetrafauna...not sure and had a hard time with a google search. The main idea here is to allow swimming room across the entire tank. It allows the animals more mobility in their environment and easier to achieve the cooler temps of the water they do best with and doesn't fowl as quickly. I never used a heater. It will also allow you more room to fit in another newt or two.

For a ten gallon with water going across the tank, I'd have no more than four newts.

A simple filter is all that's needed here. There are plenty of internal filters available. I used a corner filter. That was a long time ago and there are better filters out now. I like the Duettos. They allow an attachment for an airline hose as well as a rounded out take to fit a 1/2" diameter hose to string along somewhere to create a water fall. Can't do that with Fluval's internal filters. Their outtakes are square.

[Joey17]

There are other kinds of newts too. Like California newts of you can find any. They're great. I'd think no more than two of thos kind in a 10 gallon since they get pretty big. Like with all amphibians they need frequent water changes.

[Japola44]

i had kept 2 for quite a while when i was 6. However they died sadly due to my neglect I am considering getting some again. Anyway I kept them in a 10gal tank with just a gravel bed, and an [acronym:82d0f87055="Under Gravel Filter"]ugf[/acronym:82d0f87055]. Ijust made a little mound of gravel for the land area. Now that i know more about pet keeping in general, and water levels. I would get a [acronym:82d0f87055="Hang On Back"]hob[/acronym:82d0f87055] filter and make a water fall with it, just for looks. Any way just get a mesh lid for the tank to keep them from excaping. I wish you good luck!

[aquakev]

I kinda forgot about his thread, but thank you tctfish for the insight.

Joey17, I do like the California newts. I thin I could find one some day as I spend alot of time hinking on stream beds. I think they are one of the coolest, but mabey hard to keep.

The garage Idea makes me think about keeping them outside on my balcony, but the small amount of water in the tank will probaly have too much temperature fluctutation at night.-> It gets to almos 45 degrees at night here in SoCal->eat that Northeasterners and parts of mid-westerners. ha.

[frenchpea2002]

IME, firebelly newts are very hardy. I have had one since 1992, and he's been through a lot and just won't die! He got out of the kritter keeper he came in (my aunt gave it to me for my 8th birthday) and got out one time was went missing for at least 3 days! He showed up in the middle of the bathroom floor, dry as can be, but we put him back in and all was ok. over the years, he got upgraded to a terrarium where he still lives. Not that I recommend it, but we never did water changes on him, only added aged water (which, as I now know, most likely has chloramines in it!). When we fed him, he got bloodworms and occasionally he'd eat or at least chew on the tails of goldfish we'd but in there. There were a few years in there where he'd get fed maybe 1 a month, if he was lucky. He was in the house so temps changed a bit with the seasons (not that it's very much, seeing as I live in Sounthern Cali) and he never has had a heater.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TREATMENT OF NEWTS, but I do wonder, as the life expectany is rather low, especially in captivity, what kept him and is still keeping him alive... When I went with my brother to a reptile show about 5 years ago, when I would have had the newt for 9 years, the people at a booth with newts were shocked, and the books they had listed the age to be 5-7 years as max!