Is this little fella an alpine newt?

deedee71 · Oct 31, 2015

Please I'd my new newt. Apparently it is a alpine newt? Is this true?

deedee71 · Oct 31, 2015

Another picture

Sith the turtle · Oct 31, 2015

Yes it is, and a beautiful one at that!

deedee71 · Oct 31, 2015

Thanks xavier. That's great. At least I can look up how to keep her now. The pet shop got me a pair but the other one escaped from the tank at the shop.

So I only have her. I need to find her a friend

poor little thing.

Sith the turtle · Oct 31, 2015

Well at least you now know what to ask for on here. We have a wanted portion of the forum that you could place an add for some on :happy:

deedee71 · Oct 31, 2015

Here she is on a moss covered floating cork bark

Chinadog · Nov 1, 2015

A-ha, the mystery is solved!

I know you were wanting Cynops, but Alpines will usually live under similar conditions to firebellies. They're also one of the nicest looking newts there is, much nicer than orientalis imo.

deedee71 · Nov 1, 2015

Thanks china dog and sith the turtle.

If she stays on the land area, how do I feed her? I thought a tweezers feeding with thawed bloodworm or put a milk bottle top with bloodworm? Otherwise find a worm in the garden after all she is supposedly CB. I have live daphnia but she isn't going into the water.

My whiteworm culture is not ready.

Chinadog · Nov 1, 2015

She could well be captive bred. Unlike Cynops species, Alpine newts are cheap and easy to rear, they can be mature in well under a year and can usually be kept in the water after they morph. Another possibility is that they've been collected from one of the areas in this country where they have been introduced. I know a shop that sometimes gets them that way.
Earthworms are the best food there is for captive newts, you can try her with either small worms or chopped larger ones, don't panic if she's not hungry at the moment, it can sometimes take a week or so for newts to settle after being moved.

deedee71 · Nov 1, 2015

Thanks china dog

She doesn't seem frightened... I mean to say she doesn't try to run away and she was happy to slowly walk on my wet hand when I inspected her. Her throat moves a lot? So maybe she has been used to handling. I have only handled her the once to put her in the aquarium, I won't try and handle her unless vitality important as I realise it would be bad for her. But she doesn't seem bothered by my presence.

Do you mean just putting a worm on the cork bark? Would it fall in the water...?

Shall I make her a land area by making a shelf along one of the lengths and breadth of my aquarium and if so should I seed the Eco earth with a springtails culture or anything?

I had the tank ready for orientalis and now I have a different species. She or he is beautiful but I am worried how to keep her.

China dog, I saw your post about your 17 gallon tank with slate wall. How many inches of soil did you put in and how many inches of sand?

deedee71 · Nov 1, 2015

Beautiful little darling just took some bloodworm from tweezers. Shall try again tonight.

Chinadog · Nov 1, 2015

Yes, you can try putting a worm on the cork bark. If you use a chopped worm it should stay there, just remove it before it causes unsanitary conditions if it isn't eaten. I would make up her diet based on earthworms with other stuff as a treat. Earthworms are nutritious enough to be fed day in, day out, whereas bloodworms shouldn't be fed too often as they are too low in calcium to be a staple. It can also be tricky to get newts to take more balanced foods if they are used to bloodworms all the time.
I wouldn't bother with any kind of elaborate land area, but that's just me because I find aquatic enclosures easier to maintain. She will probably explore the water tonight when its dark, I use a torch with a red lens to watch my newts after dark, but I'm kinda weird like that

. The newts don't seem to be able to see red light so they go about their business as if I'm not there.
There's about three inches of compost in my Alpine tank covered with kid's play sand. In all honesty though, the plants in my other tanks seem to do better for some reason and they're only planted in the play sand with no compost at all!

deedee71 · Nov 1, 2015

thanks chinadog,
that is unexpected to hear the plants just in playsand do better than the other tank with the compost. do you put plant food in the water of the other tank?

I will try and find her a nice juicy worm tomorrow. not looking forward to cutting it up, but I might just put in a bit of a worm and release the rest of the worm back into the wild lol. I am silly.
will the worm be okay overnight at room temperature? or will it go off before the morning if uneaten?

Chinadog · Nov 2, 2015

I would leave the worms overnight and remove any leftovers in the morning. Mind you, there probably won't be leftovers once she settles in.

deedee71 · Nov 2, 2015

i have given her thawed frozen bloodworm again tonight. by tweezer, a couple of clumps of the small bloodworm. I have put a quarter of a cube of them on the surface of the water now it Is night time and I hope she will go in the water to scoff them.

as you guys recommend the worms I looked them up as dendrobaena?

anyway, I have bought some Dendrobaena worms off ebay small ones, can I keep them in a bucket in the garden and do I have to use shredded newspaper because I thought worms lived in mud lol. I am tempted to use mix of potting compost and leaves and and a little newspaper.

Rupert · Nov 3, 2015

deedee71 said:
i have given her thawed frozen bloodworm again tonight. by tweezer, a couple of clumps of the small bloodworm. I have put a quarter of a cube of them on the surface of the water now it Is night time and I hope she will go in the water to scoff them.

as you guys recommend the worms I looked them up as dendrobaena?

anyway, I have bought some Dendrobaena worms off ebay small ones, can I keep them in a bucket in the garden and do I have to use shredded newspaper because I thought worms lived in mud lol. I am tempted to use mix of potting compost and leaves and and a little newspaper.

Dendrobaena should be fine, just avoid the Eisenia Fetida, which are not only unpalatable but apparently toxic to many of its predators!

deedee71 · Nov 3, 2015

hi Rupert,

thankyou for the advice. I have bought small dendrobaena to feed her. she is eating bloodworms from tweezers, she is so tame she is awesome. I love looking at her she is so beautiful

I am hoping to get around my husband and put the worms in his shed.....it's not like I can sneakily infiltrate the shed and hide the worm bucket in there as he hides his keys.....:lol: I think it will be too cold keeping them outside over the winter. I don't know why he is so squeamish because his name is "worm" sometimes lol x

Chinadog · Nov 4, 2015

Tell him its either the shed or the fridge.

AuSu · Nov 4, 2015

"I am hoping to get around my husband and put the worms in his shed.....it's not like I can sneakily infiltrate the shed and hide the worm bucket in there as he hides his keys.....:lol: I think it will be too cold keeping them outside over the winter. I don't know why he is so squeamish because his name is "worm" sometimes lol x"

I've just begun a worm compost with dendrobaena and I keep them in kitchen in a critter keeper or what's that called (11 litres). I have a piece of worn bedsheet under the top to keep them from crawling away. And my husband haven't noticed this innocent-looking box at all, yet

deedee71 · Nov 4, 2015

auli and china dog, lol I told him both your replies and he said, "what's wrong with digging them up in the garden?". hmm..... don't think I am going to win this argument.

well, the worms have arrived and they are in the garden in the bag they came in until I can find an innocent container that wont attract my husbands curiosity... auli, in the critter keeper do they get too moist without drainage?

anyway, the good news is, my newt ate the half a worm I offered him/her. cool xx

Is this little fella an alpine newt?

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