What have I done?

I am totally new here and to Newts. I just went to a pet store with my daughter and we feel in love with these tiny little Paddle tails and brought them home. To live in a tiny little plastic thing the store recommended. She said they live a year, no ph worries....Then I get home and start reading just in case I didn't get the full story and, wow I think I missed a lot of info. These guys are 1.5 inches long, I have the right foods, but they need an aquarium? I think I need to find a good site that will tell me step by step what I need. Unless someone here is really patient and has time to tell me. Help!! Don't worry I am not a person who believes in keeping pets in small quarters, tell me what we need and they will get it. Thanks in advance!! Mary

well I think I can help you
....well I have some newts that are similar to paddle tails and I have them in a 20 gallon tank with about 9 inches of water and then I added a piece of drift wood for them to rest on...
they should have a filter and some gravel..you should also provide them with some room( id say about 15 gallons for 2 depending on the size...you should also give them some plants, fake or live will do, they arent really picky on light but you should give them a source like a flourecent light...you should feed them 2 or 3 times a week...change the water every week and a half...USE declorinated water not tap water...well I think that that is all
GoOd LUCk

these guys are also aggresive so dont mix them with other species...

Thanks!! What about water temp? I have read room temp and then I have read under 65 degrees which will be a problem. I have read they like to be out of the water, I have read if they are out of the water, they are sick. I am so confused to know what is right, but I do know we are off to an aquarium store. I was told no light needed, thought that was kind of weird...These guys must be babies...Mary

i dont think they are paddletails. 1.5 inches is very small, you may have young orientalis at this size but not paddletails (pachytriton labiatum). a photograph will help out a lot.

It's important to identify the species of newt you have bought before looking for specific advice. Pet shops use common names such a "Paddle Tail" rather randomly. Can you take a picture?

To answer many of your questions read http://www.caudata.org/cc/faq/faq.shtml
To help identify the species, read http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/firebelly.shtml
Most patchytriton (common name paddle tail) sold in pet shops are wild caught adults so finding 1.5inch newts would mean you've either stumbled upon some captive bred animals or you have something other than paddle tails.

well just incase you have paddle tails I think that it is proper for them to have a temp under 70 degrees and they should have low light cause if you have live plants in their they will die without light...
glad I could help

Christopher, you JUST said they need a light source (which is false), and now you're saying they need low light. Please only give correct advice.

Mary, I agree with the others in thinking you probably have Cynops orientalis, chinese firebelly newts. In addition to the links Mark posted, you should read http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml and http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml The last link is an article on cycling an aquarium, which is important for aquatic newts.

what i meant by "low light was that if they do not require light then you should atleast give them low light for the plants.....I would rather not be disrespected and told only to give correct advice when I was just trying to help... !!!

Christopher I knew you meant light for the plants. I am not at all talented at growing the plants, unless there are easier types than the one I tried. I am really a saltwater and bird person. I just thought these little creatures things were cute. That's what I get for "thinking".
I went to an aquarium store which was somewhat helpful. I was told these are fire belly paddle tails. That they will only get to about 3.5 inches? But I still an unsure what to believe from any of these people here. Here is an attempt at pictures,I can't get the ones of the belly to post. Its an orange red with black spots:


(Message edited by bravemary on May 15, 2006)

That's not the clearest pic, but looks like a Cynops orientalis to me. If that's the case, this caresheet should be of help to you:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml

Mary, you'll find that pet shops usually are not the best place for information. Most of the time they're just trying to make money, and are not that concerned about the welfare of the animals.

But fear not! We'll steer you in the right direction! I agree with Tim, especially now that you have a picture. It's probably C.o.

I agree with Tim,its almost certainly a chinese fire-bellied newt.They are able to tolerate slightly higher temps than most newts,up to mid 70s.They prefer densely planted aquariums,Elodea would be a good choice,and well oxygenated water.They spend most of their life in the water so water quality is critical i would invest in a filter and a larger tank.You will need to cycle your aquarium doing regular water changes until this is complete.They live somewhat longer than a year, ten years+, and reach about 4 inches in length.Hope you enjoy keeping them as much as i do.

Thanks y'all. I am afraid that they are not in the best shape, but I will do what I can. There's no way I can spend 400.00 on a chiller, but I found some tips on keeping the water cooler. I'm just nervous that by the time I get everything together, they may be goners. Our house is always around 78-82 so I've got my work cut out for me keeping them cooler. We have a 10 gallon tank for now that we can use and its all in closed but the pump isn't working well. When it does there is a pretty strong current in there. it is impossible to get good advice here form the stores. A store I went to last night kept their newts in a really dirty bowl of water in a very warm reptile room. Mine are not in the proper setting but they are better off today than yesterday. I wish I could go somewhere and they pile me up with the right stuff. Oh well, I have a lot of reading to do here. Thanks for all the pointers. If you thing of anything else, feel free. There is so much on this site that its a little overwhelming....

While I am no expert, I think that if you keep 2 in a 10 gallon tank you will be ok, you will just have to keep a good eye on your water quality. Being that you keep a marine tank you should be able to handle that. I would do a 25% water change every week with a tank that small.

You may want to fill a couple 12 or 16 oz soda bottles about 1/2 to 2/3 full and freeze them in the freezer use them to keep the water a little cooler. I've had my tank up to 78 a couple times, I think as long as it doesn't stay up there too long you should be ok.

Make sure to keep the tank out of direct sunlight.

Also, Avoid the temptation to handle them. The oils in your skin can be toxic to them. always rinse your hands off (no soap) before touch them and make sure your hands are wet and rinse them again when your done. Newts can release toxins that can make you sick if you have an open cut on your hand.

Goto the bait shop or pet store and get yourself some night crawlers and cut them into peices no bigger than the newts head. I use a long wooden skewer and put the worm piece on the end and try to entice the newt with it. if they see it moving, they will usually go after it. I suppose you could also use tweezers. Avoid leaving uneated food in the tank, it will wreak havok on your water quality.

If you don't like cutting up worms, try blackworms, they are smaller but a little harder to feed. They make a thing called a worm feeder, it looks like a plastic cone with perferations in it. you put a few worms in it and they slowly drop out the holes. The only problem is that newts aren't the best hunters and by the time they find the worms they may have fallen through the gravel. One last feeding option is ghost shrimp. Some people say they will eat them though I have quite a few in my tank and I've never seen them eat one.

Here is a link to the cone feeder. you can suction cup it to one side and then put a small dish under it so the worms don't fall through the gravel.

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/10175/cid/2513

Oh jeez bugs. Well my daughter will like that. She will love to feed worms to them. Thanks, I am off again with my shopping list. Also, good point about handling them. My husband told me our daughter got the out this morning to tell them good bye. She is a hopeless animal lover....

speaking of bugs, you can feed them small pillbugs (also called rolley pollies). just flip over a rock in the backyard, your bound to find some.

At the store where we got these newts they fed them frozen blood worms and said they hadn't been fed in a couple of days. The store I went to today uses crickets, which to me seem kid of big, but I know nothing about it. They won't eat any blood worms for me. I haven't found anywhere to get earth worms, we don't really have fishing places here that I know of..What should I feed them really and when should I worry that they have not eaten. I would kind of like to avoid the pillbug thing, we usually find them on our dogs poop outside....yuckygagphew.

welll Pill bugs are a pretty good food but I am wondering why your newts aint eating the blood worms?? are you feeding them in the water?
I would suggest puting them in a seperate container for feeding with about 3 inches of water...they might see the blood worms better?..
GoOd LuCk..