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Newt eat Newt question

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tamara

Guest
I am finding no information on Newt aggression. The books and sites that I have read say that you can put up to 6 newts in a 10 gallon tank. This tells me that they need company. Noone said that they can chew eachother's limbs off. Please tell me why newts attack, are they social creatures that need others or are they so territorial that they fight. Two of our 4 newts have died of their injuries and one other is missing her foot and has a bite out of her tail. I've separated the remaining 2 newts with hopes that her parts will repair over time. It is quite traumatic for my kids. 10 gallons is a lot of tank for one 2inch newt. (I've been a newt owner for 2 months and just added 2 girlfriends a week ago).

Any help would be appreciated.
 
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tamara

Guest
I forgot to mention that they are Japanese Firebellied Newts.
 
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joan

Guest
1. They don't NEED company. All caudates are solitary by nature.

2. japanese fire belly newts are pretty rare in the trade now. I'll wager you've got chinese fire belly newts, Cynops orientalis.

Newts attack because they see each other as a food source, or they're overcrowded.

Have you read http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml yet? This should answer a lot of your questions.
 
K

karen

Guest
I would say 6 newts to a 10 gallon tank is way too much. I only have 2 newts to my 10 gallon tank. You should definitely upgrade to a larger tank or split the newts and divide them up between 2 (or more) tanks.
 
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jameswei

Guest
I wouldnt argue that newts are solidarity in nature. The majority of members on these forums encounter many newts in congregations in nature. While there is no exact social order or direct interaction there is some passive level of interaction; Newts dont need company to survive, nor do they dont need company. Japanese firebelly newts are known to be rather docile, except during feeding time- when a newt gets too excited it might accidentally bite it's tank mates- and even then the injuries are not that severe. are you sure you have japanese fire belly newts and not paddle tail? if the behavior persist you have to separate or at least give them enough hiding places to distance themselves from each other.

(Message edited by newtron on September 05, 2006)
 
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jennifer

Guest
Pet shops are famous for mis-identifying newt species. It sounds to me like you were probably sold paddletail newts, but we'd need a photo to say for sure. See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/firebelly.shtml
The caresheet for the correct species will give you information about aggression.

Are the newts really only 2 inches long? If so, then another possibility is that they are Chinese firebellies but the limb loss is due to "limb rot" not aggression.

Here is another recent thread about a newt mis-labeled as a japanese firebelly:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/7/69814.html?1157303194

(Message edited by jennewt on September 05, 2006)
 
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tamara

Guest
Thank you for your help. The websites are very helpful. It does appear that we do have chinese firebellies. We are now down to one as the one newt has gone back to his grade 1 classroom. I am sure that the other, Venus, has had her hand bitten off as opposed to the rot. If I were to introduce a tankmate in the future (I'd stick to just one other this time), do you have any recommendation? I will get more plant hiding places and some more rocks to hide in, but beyond that... Also, I have never caught them actually fighting, I just see the aftermath. Would it be during the night? Are they nocturnal?
 
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jennifer

Guest
If they are CFB and you have never seen them fight, then I will tell you with near-certainty that the limbs were lost to disease, not aggression. This is not an aggressive species, and it's common for toes, feet, and legs to "disappear" due to rot. This is common in newly-acquired pet shop newts.

Keeping several CFB together is fine. Not many other tankmates work well. See Housing FAQ:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/faq/faq.shtml
 
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