Marbled Newts

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neil

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Neil France
What experiences do contributors have with marbled newts?
 
So you'll know if they are hardy in Yorkshire then.
 
Triturus marmoratus marmoratus (the larger of the two subspecies) is native to northern Spain, and from southern France to Britanny. The edge of its range is marked by the Rhone river. Cold winters and warm summers are normal there and I expect it could do well in the UK.

I feel it necessary to point out that any release into the wild of non-native species is against UK law and could result in a fine of up to £2,000 per animal.

If you plan on keeping them in escape-proof outdoor vivaria though, they should be fine, just keep them out of direct sunlight and try to keep them in the early twenties C in the summer.
 
Thanks very much for the information John, and are they ,in your opinion more challenging than Alpines?
 
I know some people who think so, yes. My own opinion is that they've got their own particular needs like all species, but I don't think they're more demanding. They're more shy than alpines, in my opinion, but I must confess that they're my favourite species of Triturus.
 
just a quick drop in here to let everyone know that my pygmy marbles are looking like they will finally breed-both are in water and the male is starting to crest.i could have sworn the one with the redder stripe was the female but that is the one who is cresting...so go fig....i will post if they do anything else..later
 
John, I've heard there are no longer considered to be any subspecies of Triturus marmoratus, and that pygmy marbles have recently been declared a separate species, namely Triturus pygmaeus. Anything on this? They're also my favorite Triturus species!

Neil, I've been keeping 3 Triturus marmoratus (marmoratus) for around a year now but have had no breeding success with them yet. Male hasn't even crested yet (if indeed it's a male!). Good luck with breeding yours Paris!
 
Hi Tim,

pygmaeus is indeed considered to be a species by some authors but not everyone seems to be fond of this proposal. Same-o with ophryticus (vs. "southern vittatus").

Since it's well established which are the closest relatives it doesn't matter much wether these taxa are treated as species or subspecies. Your choice...

BTW, if you follow the proposal to give them species status and want to be unequivocal, use Triturus (marmoratus) marmoratus - the zoological convention is Genus (Subgenus) (species group) species subspecies Author, Year...
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Best wishes,
kai
 
Thanks Kai. By the way, here are mine. One of the 3 has always been a bit skinny and I'm now trying to fatten him (?) up.
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Hi Tim,
actually all three of them seem to be a bit on the skinny side. How do they accept their food?

Ralf
 
Heh I was reading this thread and thought that the "John" above was someone else. Oh dear
happy.gif
. Yes, Triturus pygmaeus and Triturus marmoratus have been separated from before I wrote those messages 2 years ago.
 
hahaha...never realized until now how long ago this discussion thread started!

Yes, they do seem undernourished. I feed them one 3-gram bloodworm cube every 2-3 days. All three of them immediately eat once the cube melts -- so they do at least have an appetite. But if I provide two cubes at once, they won't eat all of the worms (whereas 3 C.p could easily handle two cubes).

Now that their skinny condition has been pointed out
happy.gif
and become an issue for me, I'll try feeding them one cube DAILY and experiment with mysis shrimp to see if that doesn't fatten them up! Will try to post some "before/after" pics in the coming weeks!
 
Hi Tim
I highly recommend you to feed t.marmoratus with cut earthworms. If you buy a pot of earthworms in a fishershop they will be fatty pretty soon.
On the other hand, if the skinny one shows no appetite with frozen food, start feeding him with live daphnia and live tubifex. Once the newt start to eat voraciously then you should start providing bigger animals such as cut earthworms.
Best wishes
Yago
Best wishes
 
Yes, I'd also go for earthworms (it's worth to vary the diet, too).

If you need to treat more or less starved caudates, feed them daily (but not too heavily!) for several days in a row (e.g. 3-5) and use less food-free days in between (e.g. 1-3).

Sometimes it's also worth to check fresh fecal pellets for parasites if they don't respond adequately to good feeding.

Best wishes,
kai
 
Sorry to report all 3 perished quite suddenly a couple of weeks ago, within days of each other, despite being relatively pampered (in terms of food and water conditions).

I'm thinking they had parasites from the start given their eating habits but that wouldn't account for them all dying at once. Major loss...
sad.gif


They were also extremely expensive ($130 each here in Japan!) and therefore not easy to replace. Having said that, I'm receiving 7 Czech-born CB Triturus marmoratus juvies tomorrow (at an economical price!) as part of next phase of my "consolidation" efforts (doublespeak, of course). Hopefully I'll fare better with them!
 
parasites may have been an issue-but i have a common occurance (about 1 out of 75 newts/sals) where otherwise healthy newts loose weight slowly-then loose colour or develope sores. my vet has decided it is stess induced (almost every case of this is a male that has agressive females -from paddletails to c.e.popei and crested newts) she explains it as the normal bacteria in the gut going rampant due to stress-what seems to work for me (4 out of 5 recover)is a 10% batryl solution topically applied once a day for 10-14 days. i hand feed if possible during treatment (this wont work for those that have completly lost their appetite-if their systems are shutting down its usualy too late)-if the animal is too shy i put it in an aquatic container with bloodworms to induce feeding enthusiasm.
 
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