So my daughter says to me, "OK... dont get mad or anyth

[kennef]

Hey guys, apparently while at her horseback riding lesson, my daughter and some of her friends at the stable found something for me in the pool that never got closed last year.

I get home tonight and she says, "OK.... dont get mad or anything.... but we brought you home some newts..." now knowing that i love newts [see my avatar], you might think "why would he be mad?" and gosh, thats what i was thinking too... until i got into the fish room....

oh, what a cute newt....

oh... theres another one...

3 of them? oh wait a sec....

umm... i'm losing count... GILLIAN!!!

I could go on like this for a while... lets just cut to the chase and say i know have 12 freakin' Eastern Newts!!!

so, yeah.. i love newts, so SUPRISE for me!

 

[Jchillin]

Dont'cha just love it when kids bring home pets? Thank goodness you had a decent home for them. They do look kinda cute too.

 

[Zagz]

ROFL. She was thinking of you in the best possible sense. What in the world are you going to do with them all?

 

[kennef]

well i have them in a 29 gal and a 20 gallon right at the moment... i have a 45 thats housing goldfish that are to be evicted to the pond just as soon as i redo it, then i can make some choices on habitat...

since these boys are native to NY state, while i can keep them, they cant be sold at all in a pet store. the scary part id that the pool they came from is due to be shocked with algaecide tomorrow... so i plan on going out with a net and moving as many as i can scoop to a pond nearby.

 

[Zagz]

Good idea to remove them!

 

[plecoperson]

Hm. Cutest story I've heard all day. Sounds like you raised a daughter as kind as you are!

Cute newts, too---

 

[kennef]

thank you pleco... She is fairly special to me, and she knows that i wouldn't be mad because of how much i love amphibians... the rest however, i think we really must relocate them to a safe place nearby.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I saw the first pic and thought it ate all your fish (looks kinda heavy)..

Good story.

 

[tropicfishman]

awwwww lol I want some newts lol I wonder if she acclimated them correctly??? LOL

 

[eah]

Great photos. Could you share some info about the habitat you have set up for them? Do they need dry places to hang out as well? I'm not planning on getting any myself, but would love to hear about what your long term plans for these guys are!

 

[hsherman1986]

So how did the rescue mission go?

 

[QTOFFER]

Nice pics!
CAn you keep newts in an aquarium indefinitely, or do they eventually require some kind of terrarium setup?

while i can keep them, they cant be sold at all in a pet store

Hmmm? I saw a tank of Eastern newts for sale - $10 each - in a Long Island lps today. Maybe retailers can get a permit.

And last year, I came across the pictured eft while hiking in Harriman State Park on a rainy day.

 

[kennef]

Nice pics!
CAn you keep newts in an aquarium indefinitely, or do they eventually require some kind of terrarium setup?

while i can keep them, they cant be sold at all in a pet store

Hmmm? I saw a tank of Eastern newts for sale - $10 each - in a Long Island lps today. Maybe retailers can get a permit.

And last year, I came across the pictured eft while hiking in Harriman State Park on a rainy day.

well, from the info i have gotten via the LFS in my area. NY state has instituted a blanket ban of native species for sale. if your LFS has them they must have been shipped in from somewhere else; and even so, i think that it doesnt matter if they come from other states.

Eastern Newts are generally semi aquatic, except for their red eft stage, which occurs halfway through their life cycle. I think these newts are full adults and may have already had their eft stage, tho i cannot be sure.

the plan is to keep some of them long term, if possible, while releasing the rest to a pond where they might be able to live and breed safely.

 

[toddnbecka]

They're adults, the young have external gills before morphing into the red eft stage.