Hello Everyone!

Hello everyone, I'm new here!

I really enjoy to see there are other people like me who are crazy about newts! I saw my first newt when I was about 5 years old in a pond somewhere on a fieldtrip from school. It was a pond full of triturus vulgaris and I thought of the creatures as if they were something magical. I haven't seen any newts for about 6 years after that, untill I suddenly remembered the pond, I went back, captured a few larvae's, placed them in the pond of our backyard and there is a huge population in my town now! I really love the photos I see here. I also had a Japanese Firebelly once but he has passed away some time ago, I still don't know what caused it. My favorite newt is the Firenewt (?) i don't know if that's the correct name but it's latin name is salamandra salamandra if I'm correct. Unfortunatly these creatures are protected by law and cannot be sold anymore. The only salamanders they sell here are firebellys and regular triturus vulgaris larvaes. Currently I own about 10 triturus vulgaris and they are doing just fine! they laid a lot of eggs, which are currently hatching! If my brother brings his digital camera back again I'll probably take some pics, the male triturus vulgaris are wonderfull at the moment!

Anyway, i guess you'll be seeing me more here!

-Coen Deurloo, 20 years, Holland

Oh and do you guys / girls no any resource for the keeping of triturus vulgaris? I know the basics but there's never enough to learn!

Hello Coen. Let me wish you a very warm welcome to the forums .

Triturus vulgaris are pretty easy to manage. They are mostly terrestrial between about July/August (earlier for females) to January/February. A large standard 50% land /50% water terrarium is ideal for them. Just don't let it get too hot in the summer.

I guessed they are doing just fine!

Welcome, Coen! Have you read these websites?
http://www.caudata.org/caudatecentral/caresheets/CS/salamandridae.html (no caresheet for vulgaris, but some good ones for other Triturus)
http://www.darkwave.org.uk/~caleb/triturus.html

Thanks Jennifer! The like their rainworms very much, but they slip through the small stones on the bottom very easily, and the newts like to take a sniff from their rainworms first and then calculate the best angle for an attack. Needless to say, most rainworms are long gone after that! Any help concerning this issue would be very helpfull!

Maybe it would be better to have a small layer of sand instead of small stones?

I do not use a layer of sand/stones on the bottom of my tanks. The tank bottoms are bare, with just a few individual pebbles.

Currently I have washed sand at the bottom with a few small stones to make it look more natural, I'll feed them more rainworms tomorrow and I'll see what happens

Hmmm...