Newts?

[Spishkey]

i live on the edge of a river and this week we've had soooo many newts come up through cracks in the walls/holes in the floors its unbelievable! anyhow ive been googling to try and find out what kind they are but am having no luck
the have a totally orange bell...then the underneath is orange with black spots and stripes. the top half of them is brown with a subtle blue tinge to it??? they are definatly not chinese/japanese fire bellys they look too different to them. sorry cant get a photo up until i get my camera back next week! have saved two as pets for the kids, and returned the rest outside (well the ones that made it passed the cat!) is basic care for newts the same for all types?

 

[nInfan1990]

i live on the edge of a river and this week we've had soooo many newts come up through cracks in the walls/holes in the floors its unbelievable! anyhow ive been googling to try and find out what kind they are but am having no luck
the have a totally orange bell...then the underneath is orange with black spots and stripes. the top half of them is brown with a subtle blue tinge to it??? they are definatly not chinese/japanese fire bellys they look too different to them. sorry cant get a photo up until i get my camera back next week! have saved two as pets for the kids, and returned the rest outside (well the ones that made it passed the cat!) is basic care for newts the same for all types?

First of all, congrats on getting a nice, lucky catch like that!! from the description you have given, they sound a lot like alpine newts: is this an accurate image <a href="http/www.hlasek.com/foto/triturus_alpestris_4233.jpg" target="_blank">http/www.hlasek.com/foto/triturus_alpestris_4233.jpg</a> ... if so, then I should think the care for these would be near enough the same as with all other newts, roughly 2 per 10-15 gallons of water to stop fighting and terretorial aggression. The other thing I would say is that you should try and collect some of the silt/soil from the bottom of the river in small amounts to put in the tank so theyre used to the water quality. Oh and obviously no stones small enough to fit in its mouth, but Im sure you already know that Hope this helped, if not, Im here all night! lol

http/3.bp.blogspot.com/_STeOGbGlQyU/RsNu...alpestris-2.jpg this colourform may help with ID too

 

[Spishkey]

hmm looks very similar but they dont have the black and white spotty bits down their side?