New Newts

I already have two firebelly newts but i was offered to take 9 more and a new tank and i was wondering if my recent newts would fight with the new ones. Are they territorial or do they react quite well to new "friends" ? I think all the newts are roughly the same size. I was also worried about adding them into a new surrounding which is stressful enough without having other curious newts sniffing about you. Would i have to put them all in at the same time or would i put my newts in then the new ones or vice versa ?
I hope someone will be able to help

In my experience, which is limited, the newts might be a little timid, but won't fight. Actually, when my ex and I brought home two new chinese fire bellies, they babies rode around on our larger Japanese fire belly. Kawaii - to the max.

You might just want to keep in mind of possible sicknesses that can be passed. That would be fun to set up a new tank while keeping your new family members in quarantine; have your tank cycle fast by using water and substrate from the old tank, then have a new home for all of your babies.

That's all know on the subject.

I don't think housing a japanese and chinese firebelly together is a good idea.

Sazbob,

It's the old 'firebelly newt' thing again. A number of newts have red (fire) bellies and are described by petshops and others as 'firebellies.

If they're Cynops orientalis (Chinese fire belly newts) they should live together without fighting, but if they're, say, paddletail newts (paramesotriton) then they'll fight because they're territorial. Japanese fire bellies (Cynops pyrrhogaster) in my experience are non aggresive.

If you can post a picture people on here will soon identify the species. Or you can check the species descriptions and photos in Caudata Culture.

As the previous poster said, quarantine is important. I had three Cynops orientalis and rescued another eight from poor conditions at a garden centre. I kept them in a simple quarantine tank for three months and three died in the first two weeks. If you're taking on another nine you must quarantine them before they join your others.

Platinumtwo said:

It's the old 'firebelly newt' thing again. A number of newts have red (fire) bellies and are described by petshops and others as 'firebellies.

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We definitely need to know the real species here to give you proper advice. Posting pictures here or checking this article may help you. You don't want to mix species together and some species are territorial and aggressive towards others.

Let me join the others and stress the importance of a proper 30 day quarantine. Feed the quarantine animals last and don't allow anything from one cage into the other. Wash carefully if you have to move from quarantine to healthy animals. Keep the animals in separate rooms if at all possible.

paddletail newts (paramesotriton) then they'll fight because they're territorial.

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Paddle tail newts are actually Pachytriton, but they are territorial and aggressive. The same can be said for the warty newts, Paramesotriton. So you are right on both genera, you just mixed them up.

Whoops! This isn't the first time I've mixed up those species, but I don't mix anything up in my tanks!

I have pictures of my newts at the moment but i don't have any pictures of the new ones. Have i to quarantine the new newts in the tank that they come in and then after 30 days clean out the tank and add my newts ?

I don't know if this is useful or not but my newts are currently 3 inches long and i'm still trying to find out how long the other newts are.

These are some pictures of my newts. The picture quality isn't very good but i hope they're good enough to tell.

Ok i'm quite confused now because i looked at the article and one of my newts matches the description for a japanese but the other matches both - bumpier skin than the other one, more obvious (partoid ?) glands but has the same colour of belly and it's skin isn't as bumpy as in the pictures. Do i have a Japanese and a Chinese ? Will this cause any problems when adding the new ones ?

I appreciate all your replies they are really helpful

I would look to see if mixing Japaneses and Chinese is a bad idea, that way you know. If it is... just house the new ones in your new tank and keep your original happy by leaving things the way they are. This way there's no what if's.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=51896&highlight=mixing

Hope this helps

So is this right...When i get my new newts i keep them in a plastic box type thing with water and quarantine them for 30 days, meanwhile i set up their paludarium and leave it to cycle after all the ammonium and nitrite and stuff are at the right levels i add the new newts and my recent newts at the same time and watch them closely to see if they get on well.
Please reply soon as i'm getting them sometime this week. With test kits does it tell you what the levels should be ?
Oh and i won't forget to add pictures of the new ones so you can tell me if they are the same species as my current ones.
Thanks for all the help i'm so excited and keep making plans of what my new tank will look like

Ammonia should be 0 and same with nitrites. For nitrates, it should be below 40.

Those are definately C. Orientalis. I my experience, very limited, Mine fight quite a lot. I think I have a special case however, as most are peaceful. Mixing amphibian species is almost never a good idea, but it can work. A Quarantine tank is a good idea, but you should be ok in the long run.
Make sure your newts are well cared for and live long!:angel:

Thanks i thought they were probably c. orientalis but it's good to have a second opinion. Once i get my new ones i'm going to check that they are the same species and once they've been quarantined i'll add my current ones and see how they get along. If they fight i don't have a problem keeping my current ones where they are and the other ones in the new tank.
Thanks everyone for all your help I'm just waiting now till i get them. I might even give an account of how i do the paludarium if i think it's nice enough.