Hello from the mad ones!

We have three fire bellied newts, not sure which species exactly. We bought them a year and a half ago, and they are just plain crazy...we love watching their antics, and they love to strike a pause for pics too! (On a good day)
We started reading threads on here last year, to feed and create a nice living space for them, but it has recently been a lot more helpful as our babies have all grown up and are now laying eggs!! (Will post more on that in another post later)

For now, meet Rexy (the biggest, baddest of the lot. Also the oldest by a couple of months), Tigo Junior and Squirt (in the pic attached. Sorry I could not figure out how to attach multiple pics, it did not work uploading three at a time...)

Welcome to the forum!
It's hard to tell which type of fire bellied newt it is since it's quite far but if you send a nearby picture, somebody will surely tell you which you have Nice to hear they are doing well! If they are spending time in water now (I assume so if they are laying eggs), you could give them more space to swim by taking away all those big rocks and maybe adding some more water. Fire bellied newts are great

Thanks. Two seem to go underwater, one still prefers to lounge. All of them enjoy floating whilst holding on with one paw, if that is what we call them for newts, and head barely above water, so am going to slowly change the setting as you suggested.
Here is a belly pic, if it helps

Another close up, Rexy doing her floating trick on cue

Rexy I believe by looking at the head shape and actual belly, I believe that it is a Japanese fire-belly. Could we have more pictures of the others, because pet shops may have sold you Chinese and Japanese fire-bellies, and mixing species is bad

Cliygh and Mia said:

Rexy I believe by looking at the head shape and actual belly, I believe that it is a Japanese fire-belly. Could we have more pictures of the others, because pet shops may have sold you Chinese and Japanese fire-bellies, and mixing species is bad

Click to expand...

All of them look like H. orientalis to me, petshops don't sell C. pyrrhogaster very often anymore, the ones Ive seen sold as "Large Fire-bellies" or "Japanese Fire-bellies" have all been Paramesotriton sp.. And belly pattern in any specie can vary greatly.
As for the tank, I would upgrade to at least a 10 gallon tank filled nearly to the top with a floating land mass and lots of live plants. 10 gallons of water is usually considered the bare minimum to maintain good water parameters.
Heres a care sheet for Hypselotriton (Cynops) orientalis: Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

ThoseNewtsTho said:

All of them look like H. orientalis to me, petshops don't sell C. pyrrhogaster very often anymore, the ones Ive seen sold as "Large Fire-bellies" or "Japanese Fire-bellies" have all been Paramesotriton sp.. And belly pattern in any specie can vary greatly.
As for the tank, I would upgrade to at least a 10 gallon tank filled nearly to the top with a floating land mass and lots of live plants. 10 gallons of water is usually considered the bare minimum to maintain good water parameters.
Heres a care sheet for Hypselotriton (Cynops) orientalis: Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

Click to expand...

It was probably the way the picture was angled, but the head looked different, which is why I commented

thank you all for your replies and welcomes. I am cleaning the tank tomorrow so will try to get more close up pics to show you. I have kept them in shallow tank, with places to bask above water as they did not like the taller tank with mostly just water and plants. They kept creeping up the sides and clinging to the edges for dear life. (Told you they were mad...)
Would you advise removing the terrestrial option to force them to become fully aquatic now?

If they are refusing completely aquatic life I would remove all completely unsubmerged land, have a very shallow amount of water and a ton of live plants, and try not to bother it all the time, if it climbs, leave it. Eventually it'll have to come down and sit on the plants, partially submerged which will help it get used to the water. After a couple of days/weeks you can start to gradually increase the water every few weeks.
While doing this it would be a good idea to buy a new, larger tank and cycle it so that it's ready when the newts go aquatic.

My only worry about moving them right now is that Rexy is still laying eggs, and we have one little hatchling in the tank (or maybe two). If I move them now, will she stop laying even though she is quite swollen, and would this harm her? I have started cycling water in another tank, so will move them when I am sure it will not harm them or stress them out too much.