Firebelly Newt

[gordi]

are these cold water? the woman at my lfs sed they need to be in water bout 28degrees sure they are cold! i have him in room temp now but if it needs to be heated al put the heater in!

also do these like to have plants in with them and is a sand base to the tank oook? can they be handled?

 

[Kevin_D]

28c would be way too warm for most species of Newts and Salamanders.

They should be kept in water around 15-20c, its ok to use plants, they should rest amongst the plants. Sand is ok to use as substrate. They can be handled if necessary, I dont see why they would need to be handled unnessasarily though.

 

[gordi]

28c would be way too warm for most species of Newts and Salamanders.

They should be kept in water around 15-20c, its ok to use plants, they should rest amongst the plants. Sand is ok to use as substrate. They can be handled if necessary, I dont see why they would need to be handled unnessasarily though.

so i will need to put the heater in? i will do it now!! i have a moss ball in there at the minute and a few rocks!! anything else he wud need?? i was jst curious! so a know wen i take it out to clean etc! can anything else be kept with them? also one of his feet is missing! will it grow back

how big do these grow?

 

[Kevin_D]

Room temperature is usually around that temperature, so a heater may not be needed. If you do use a heater though the most you'd need to set it to would be 20c.

It may be a good idea to use a small filter and/or an airstone, but nothing else is really needed. I wouldnt recommend keeping it with anything other than its own species. The missing foot should regenerate, if you have the Chinese species (the most common ones) it would get around 10cm, the Japenese species get slightly larger, around 12cm or so.

 

[gordi]

i have just left the heater out as my room is rather warm neways. i never knew they grew that big:O are they happier on their own or with a partner? i have a small fluval filter in the tank to keep the water clean n clear bit of a current tho but he seems to be ok in it and doesnt get blown around

i shall post some photos up of my tank to show you! and to see if you think its big enough etc. i can change tanks to a larger one if it is not!

 

[Kevin_D]

Some Elodea could be used to defuse the current of the filter, and give the Newt a break from the current if needed. I havent kept this species for years, I used to keep two together with no problems though.

 

[gordi]

mt tank is set up great now and he seems happy! got some plants n bog wood n lighting in there! i tried him on frozen bloodworm n sat him next to it n diddnt touch it! is he not hungry?

also how do you know what sex they are! if i put 2 together would they mate?

 

[Kevin_D]

Some Newts may not eat frozen bloodworm straight away, try it on very small earthworms or chopped earthworms, as well as other live foods like bloodworm, tubifex etc..

Male Newts have a more swolen cloaca, it is possible to breed this species, it would be worth researching them more if you wanted to breed them.

 

[The_Dude]

Chopping eathworms make me feel evil. I culture my own bloodworms for that.