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Newest Tank Inhabitant

Started by Guest_dsaavedra_* , Feb 27 2009 10:40 PM

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13 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 27 February 2009 - 10:40 PM

well the last time i went to the creek i caught an eastern red spotted newt, and i even had him in my little glad-ware that i use to take stuff home in, but then when i was walking him i got to thinking and i wasn't sure if they were completely aquatic or if they just had to stay moist, so i turned around and let him go.

then when i got home i found out that they go through three stages, aquatic larvae, terrestrial juvenile, and aquatic adult. this made me wish i had kept it to put in my tank!

well i went back today and i caught another one and kept this one. its sooooo cool! it just chills

and it also swims a lot, and its neat to see the way it's tail works.

i named him Godzilla :biggrin:

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#2 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 27 February 2009 - 11:11 PM

very nice, what does it eat?

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#3 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 27 February 2009 - 11:22 PM

haven't fed it yet as i just got it a few hours ago, but from reading, they eat aquatic insects and larvae, and in captivity, they eat earthworms.

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#4 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 27 February 2009 - 11:36 PM

oh no!

i was afraid of this....

my newt and crawfish don't get along...

i just looked and i see a chunk missing out of the top of the newts tail :neutral:

i think tomorrow i need to get the newt out of my 55 gallon and into my 5 gallon where it will be safe.

edit:
i just checked the pictures and the nick in its tail is there in the pictures. i put the newt in the tank around 6:45, and then went out to dinner and took the picture around 9:30, so it must have happened sometime while i was gone, because i'm pretty darn sure there wasn't any damage to the newt when i put it in. i hope the newt and crawfish don't scrap any more!

Edited by dsaavedra, 27 February 2009 - 11:42 PM.

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#5 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 27 February 2009 - 11:36 PM

They will eat frozen blood worms.
Better be sure you have a tight fitting cover. They do like to climb out. I think they climb the air tubing or the powerhead cord.

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#6 Guest_sandtiger_*

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Posted 28 February 2009 - 12:24 AM

I used to keep some of those, fun little critters. I got mine to eat fish food but it might take some time just as it does with native fishes. Till then frozen bloodworms and the like will be fine. Good luck with him (and it is a male BTW).

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#7 Guest_smilingfrog_*

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Posted 28 February 2009 - 01:46 AM

Better be sure you have a tight fitting cover. They do like to climb out. I think they climb the air tubing or the powerhead cord.

I would second that, I've kept newts in the past and as long as they kept their wet belly pressed against it, they had no problem climbing right up the glass.

oh no!

i was afraid of this....

my newt and crawfish don't get along...

i just looked and i see a chunk missing out of the top of the newts tail

i think tomorrow i need to get the newt out of my 55 gallon and into my 5 gallon where it will be safe.

It might not be the crawfish, I have had fish tear their tail fins on rigid plastic plants, and I noticed the ones the newt is among look to have some sharp points to the leaves. I would probably still not keep it with the crawfish though.

Edited by smilingfrog, 28 February 2009 - 02:17 AM.

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#8 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 28 February 2009 - 11:35 AM

i woke up this morning and i thought he was DEAD!

he was just hanging there in the plants, motionless, looking very dead, and i poked him with my finger and he did nothing. my dad said that he poked it earlier and it just sank down to some lower leaves.

so i netted it out getting ready to flush it, but then it started crawling around in the net! when i put it back in the tank it swam for the bottom and then crawled around and then swam to the top and took a gulp of air and just hung on the leaves again.

he is currently hanging in the leaves, i guess thats his favorite spot.

I have a few questions about caring for this newt, and i don't know which section to post them in, so i'll post them here:
1. can they stay underwater all the time? or do they have to have a place to get out of the water? i've seen this one gulp for air a few times, and when i'm down at the pond i can see them swim up for air and swim back down.
2. what can i feed it besides frozen blood worms?
3. what is some other general information i should know about them?
4. how can you tell its a male?

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#9 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 28 February 2009 - 08:07 PM

i've noticed it spends a lot of time out of the water, ontop of a floating bag of bio-balls i have in there.

i also noticed that when it is out of the water, it "breathes" (i guess thats what you'd call it) a whole lot faster than when it is under water.

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#10 Guest_smilingfrog_*

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Posted 28 February 2009 - 09:22 PM

To try & answer some of your questions. I'm not sure if they actually need it or not but, when I kept them, I had a chunk of cork bark that I floated in the aquarium to let them climb out on when they wanted. They did spend a fair amount of time on it. Also as I said in an earlier post they would frequently climb right up the glass. I figure if they like to come out of the water sometimes I should give them a place to do so.
As far as feeding goes, mine were all purchased at a pet store and were willing to eat prepared and freeze dried foods from the day I got them. I fed them freeze dried tubifex worms. I would think any small aquatic inverts: amphipods, isopods, very small crayfish, etc... would be eaten. You mentioned earthworms earlier they would be good too.
The males develop a large tail fin during breeding season.

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#11 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 28 February 2009 - 10:45 PM

thanks smilingfrog!

you said freeze dried bloodworms? as in the kind in the can, not the frozen ones? thats good, cuz i have a whole can of those. i don't know how long it will take before he starts eating though.

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#12 Guest_fishlvr_*

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Posted 01 March 2009 - 08:44 PM

I have a few questions about caring for this newt, and i don't know which section to post them in, so i'll post them here:
1. can they stay underwater all the time? or do they have to have a place to get out of the water? i've seen this one gulp for air a few times, and when i'm down at the pond i can see them swim up for air and swim back down.
2. what can i feed it besides frozen blood worms?
3. what is some other general information i should know about them?
4. how can you tell its a male?

1.) The adults sometimes go into a terrestrial stage after the breeding season, so you should always have a land source for them. If they spend excessive time above the water and their tail fin shrinks you should move them to a more terrestrial enclosure with a large water bowl or 1/2 water 1/2 land.
2.) already got answered for you
3.) Here's a caresheet on them: Notophthalmus viridescens
4.) Males also have larger hind legs than females outside and inside of the breeding season, and males are almost always skinnier.

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#13 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 03 March 2009 - 06:37 PM

thanks fishlvr.

how much time out of water is "excessive"? he is staying out of water for a few hours each day.

"Though adults should be considered totally aquatic, in the wild some adults do leave the pond and become temporarily terrestrial if water levels drop or water temperatures become too high. It is also possible that adults occasionally leave the water for extended periods to avoid waterborne pathogens or to remove aquatic parasites such as leeches. Efts are entirely terrestrial and will require a moist woodland terrarium. As an alternative, they can be housed in simple plastic containers with a substrate of moist soil or damp paper towels that should be cleaned and misted regularly. Efts must also be kept at the temperatures described above for adults."

i don't think there are any waterborne pathogens in my tank, at least none that are affecting my fish. there certainly aren't any leeches in my tank either

. so this leads me to believe that my water is too warm, but my water temp is 68°F, which seems to be right in their range.

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#14 Guest_fishlvr_*

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Posted 08 March 2009 - 01:38 AM

2 hours is normal. They need to bask for a while everyday. If they start spending most of the day above water and their skin appears rougher/dryer then you may want to consider moving them. The temp is perfect for them. Before we fixed our pool we had tons of these guys in it and the water got up to about 80 in the summer and the adults stayed in their aquatic stage.