Question: Newcomer

:happy:Good day all,

I'm looking at owning a fire belly newts and have done some research on them throughout the web. I am thinking about at getting a 29-40 gal tank set up with live plants as well as a 50/50 split with land and water (paludarium) just until the newts become accustomed to their new area. Some plants will be on land and some in water both part and full submersion. I am also considering some ghost shrimp to assist with tank maintenance (ei eating plant matter...) as well as an addition to entertainment. Most important part of this set up will be for the newts. My question is when exactly is it best and most suitable to add the newts to the tank after the cycling? And when is it best to add the shrimp? also if there are any really good books or ebooks to reference to that would be greatly appreciated as I don't own any items yet just doing the research on all of it first.

Thanks,

Dave:happy:

Re: Newcommer

Hi, welcome to the site! Its refreshing to see someone doing their research before getting any animals, instead of after.
Fire bellied newts make great pets, but only if you start with healthy ones. Unfortunately, the ones for sale in petstores are highly stressed at best, or on death's door at worst. Captive bred ones may take a bit of time and trouble to find, but they are usually in perfect health and are already happy in captivity.

Caudata.org People: Jen - The Pet Shop Firebelly Newt Tragedy

Its far better to cycle a tank without any animals in it, the ammonia and nitrite produced during the cycling process are highly toxic and can easily poison aquatic creatures if not kept in check with careful testing and regular partial water changes. If you do decide to get some shrimp, they can't go in until the tank is well and truly cycled as they are extremely sensitive to poor water quality.

Generally speaking, 50/50 land water set ups are not needed for most newts. Adult Firebellies will happily live 100% aquatically in captivity, so the land area will not be used and just takes up valuable space that could be used for extra water volume. If you acquire some captive bred juveniles from a breeder they may be terrestrial, but they are best kept in smaller set ups with damp paper towel substrate and a few hides, once they mature they will become aquatic very quickly and will usually spend the rest of their lives in the water. Here is the care sheet for Chinese firebellies, they are the most common type available at the moment.

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

There are a few up to date books on keeping newts, my favourite is Salamanders keeping and breeding by F. Pasmans S. Bogaerts H. Janssen M, Sparreboom. ISBN978-3-86659-265-0.

Hi Chinadog,

:happy:Thanks for the information. This will help greatly, there is so much to learn.
I just paid a visit to the book rating area in the forum here and there is a lot good of information there as well. I'll have to check out the book you recommended.

I've got about 5 months before I make my final consideration on newts or water dragons.
Strong consideration on wanting a Paludium type set up.

I think this is the best online newt and salamander keeping resource there is, from care sheets and set up ideas to disease treatment and Faq's.

Caudata Culture Home Page

I can totally see why you would want a plaudarium, after all, they do look stunning on display in living rooms. The reason I say either an aquarium or terrestrial set up is all most newts need is geared towards people who are short on space, I guess that's not an issue here if you are considering water dragons!

Aquatic newts really need at least ten gallons of water to do best, smaller volumes can be unstable and suffer excessive fluctuations in temp and water quality, so as long as the water section is quite large it is doable. Most newts are very intolerant of higher temps for anything more than a few days though, so heaters and tropical plants are out of the question, but its possible to design beautiful plaudariums with cold tolerant mosses and ferns.

Have you thought about keeping Tylototriton spp (Crocodile newts?) They are much more heat tolerant than Chinese fire bellies and get fairly big and impressive. I keep Tylototriton verrucosus in a large tank in my living room and spend ages just watching them going about their business. They make a great display species and will learn certain things like hand feeding or begging for food when they see their keeper nearby! They are also one of the few species that will use both land and water sections in a land/water set up.

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tylototriton verrucosus