Hi, new here.

diego · Nov 20, 2005

Hi I'm new here, I'm 13 years old and I live in Middletown CT (USA) I like herps and have ferret my IQ is 116(i think) and I have just basically said everything in the register page

lol. WELL... I have gone through many herps that I've wanted to keep(well actually just 2) the thing is that I have fallen in love with newts...They are awsome and its very nice to see people so interested in caudates(sp?)

I really liked triturus carnifex (Alpine Crested Newt) but seeing that it isn't available In my local petstore I'm now looking into the Cynops orientalis (Chinese Fire Bellied Newt) Well I was wondering how many I can keep in a 20 gallon tank, I would like 2 maybe 3 (2 sounds better)I wanna keep a mild/heavly planted aquarium with one of those islands that stick to the sides of the tank and a good sized hideout/ornament. I was also wondering if I can keep them with a 5 to 10 neon tetras.soooo YEP!

foster · Nov 20, 2005

Checkout the link to caudata culture. There are some great articles there that will answer many of your questions. Neon tetras need warmer water than Cynops so this would not be a good mix.
Chip

ralf · Nov 21, 2005

Hi Diego,
here is the link to Caudata Culture (CC):
http://www.caudata.org/cc/index.shtml

Some links to articles on CC that might be useful for you to get started.
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/catastrophes.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml

joan · Nov 21, 2005

And if you're thinking about getting CO's, you should get them from a reputable breeder, and not from your pet store. Pet shop newts almost always wild caught, are usually disease-ridden and in bad shape, and die within a few weeks from the stress of being shipped and housed in terrible setups. There's almost always something up for sale, if you keep an eye on the 'for sale' section, you might find something you like.

leanne · Nov 21, 2005

Welcome, Diego!!

You're on the right track with 2 species of newt to a 20 gallon enclosure, but definitely it is a good idea to keep it limited to containing only one kind of species of critter (i.e. no tetras with newts, which was mentioned---and it's true, if you have any doubt about the risk you take by mixing species, look at that link that was given by Ralf---the mixing disasters one). Generally speaking, a hiding place is important (like you noted

), pH quality of water and substrate must be kept at a healthy level, and make sure you get a good cover for the tank (most of these guys are little Houdini escape artists)

TJ · Nov 21, 2005

Anybody who keeps ferrets is alright in my book, but take extra caution to keep your ferret and newts apart. I had couple ferrets years ago that were skilled at getting into the axoltl tank and caused some unspeakable damage to my animals. If the ferret gets into your tank or if the newt escapes from your tank, you may have yourself an even worse problem than I did as Cynops orientalis skin contains a toxin (though I don't know how potent). Not trying to scare you out of getting some newts, but just be aware and take extra care!

leanne · Nov 21, 2005

YES, years ago I had an indoor pond that I made out of a baby pool, and it contained tiger salamander tadpoles/morphs in there. One morning I awoke to discover a salamander out of the pool, covered in carpet fuzz, and punctured all over the place with little teeth marks---Harley, my ferret, decided to play with him during the night

jeff · Nov 21, 2005

Hey Diego, thanks for sharing your iq with us!!!

Leanne- where did you have room to put a kidde pool into your house? I had issues finding a spot for my 30 gallon!

leanne · Nov 21, 2005

Heh, when there's a will there's a way!!

diego · Nov 21, 2005

cool! thanks for all the info! I was just wondering if there is ANY type of fish that can be kepts with COs..

its not necesary but i dunno i think it would be cool, I understand why most herps cant be kept with other animals...so lets just see ill google on it

jeff · Nov 21, 2005

don't get fish, its just a hassle and more poop.

diego · Nov 21, 2005

HA! you got a point there!

So firebellies move like fish? I mean I've only seen the ones in my petstore for like 3 seconds so...what are they like?

See I've seen frogs before and they aren't the most interesting animals out there they basically sit eat and sleep..are newts like this except in the water?

(Message edited by Diego_(yay) on November 21, 2005)

ali · Nov 22, 2005

Hi Diego. From my (limited) experience, the firebellies aren't the most active of the different newt species, but I'll tell you what. I agree with Joan in that getting them from a breeder would be MUCH better and they would CERTAINLY live longer, but I think getting some firebellies from that pet store of yours would make a great first time pet newt. And I'm sure you could make them happier than they are!

Be sure to read those links that the moderator posted, as they have GREAT information from this site.

If you want something cool to put with your newts, about the only 100% safe thing is ghost shrimp. They are really cheap since most people feed them to bigger animals. They'll clean the bottom of the tank a little bit too! AND they're really cool to watch.

Good luck and let us know if you have any problems!

jeff · Nov 22, 2005

I'm with Ali, shrimp are the "safest" things for newts, but not for themselves.. hehe.
Diego, forget about what "swims like a fish", it's not importent. I am thinking that newts may be not the right animal for you just yet. Frogs are really the best when it comes to eating, and they seem to be less hard to feed right. you should go with some frogs, and then try out some newts froma pro.

diego · Nov 22, 2005

Yeah but newts dont have to eat live crickets like frogs NEED to..

ali · Nov 22, 2005

Maybe you could just try a community fish tank? You could still have the cool shrimp then too!

I also have a hamster, and while I prefer caudates, she sure is cute

adam · Nov 22, 2005

You could get a fish tank and put fake newts in it!
only joking

diego · Nov 22, 2005

......I really want newts!

are they really that hard to keep?? I don't mind if they dont move much...i just asked if they moved like fish not because I want them to move like fish but because I just wanted to see how they ascted like...I made that last message so short because I was in school, I don't want something I can pet and hug and play with( I already have one of those lol)I want a pet I can look at while I have some spare time, a pet I can feed. First I looked into frogs and I saw Red Eyed Tree frogs with look really amazing, http://www.livingunderworld.org/gallery/photos/anura/hylidae/agalychnis/callidryas/agalychnis_callidryas_rob_stegmann.jpg

But seeing that they cost 100 dollars ( from a petstore and from online stores+shipping ) So then I dissapointed I looked into Fire Bellied Toads and kind of looked over the fact that they ate live bugs so I knew that I wasn't gonna be able to make weekly trips to the petstore so I looked into other herps, geckos (eat live bugs, too expensive) but then I stopped at newts and I was like wow! the way they look, the way the swim( side to side), live food isn't necesary and many other things...well that's my story,

Why do you think newts aren't right for me?(oh and I think I want japanese fire bellied newts instead)

(Message edited by Diego_(yay) on November 23, 2005)

andrew · Nov 22, 2005

Not all frogs are lazy gluttons. Some actively hunt food during the day, like Poison dart frogs. If you haven't looked into this yet, go to Dendroboard, spend a few weeks, (which I promise if you are interested will turn into years) at the board and you will learn all about these and even about other interesting anurans.

diego · Nov 22, 2005

cool..sounds good, but my major concern isn't the frog's behaivour it's self but it's diet. I belong to talkto.thefrog.org and I've researched anurans for a couple months but as you may have read above I can't make weekly trips to the petstore to buy crickets and I'm not really up to breeding my own crickets...I don't have enough room or time, the thing I don't understand is is there a reason why some people are trying to drive me out of keeping CP or other newts?This did happen to me while I was buying my ferret, in most care sheets it talked about how wonder full they were and how playfull they were and how funny they were and how overall great they were (which they are!)but they didn't say how smelly they were how nippish they were s pups and how they didnt allways went and did their business in a litter box?
are there any big cons against newts in general?

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