Mandarin/Emperor Newt Hibernation?

Hi - I'm new here so please forgive my question if it's been asked before.

I have a pair of mandarin salamanders. I've had them about six months. I've kept more aquatic species, like Firebellied, Eastern and Oregon and/or California newts in the past, but have less experience with this more terrestrial species.

The male appears to be in hibernation mode. He's burrowed, hardly active and has been this way for about 2 months. He's not losing weight and has shifted areas of his enclosure and I believe he is still eating, so I think he's ok, but I'm wondering if this is normal. I believe these specimens were shipped directly from China, but I don't know if they are captive bred or wild caught. Both animals came from the same shipment.

The female has been more active over the last week than in the 6 months I've had her combined. She seems almost restless. She has been climbing around her cage for the last few days almost non stop, as if she's trying to escape. There are adequate hiding spaces and room to burrow, but her behavior (and high activity level) is a real change from the past 6 months.

Has anyone witnessed this previously? I don't think there is necessarily a problem as both look healthy, but I'm wondering why one is close to hibernation and the other is restless.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Hi Sam and welcome to the forum.

Newts don’t hibernate but they do become less active at cooler temperatures. What temperature are you keeping them at and what kind of housing have you provided for them?

Both the behaviours could be indicative of environmental stress so it’s important to know how they are being kept.

Mark - Thanks.

The temperature in my home is kept to about 67 degrees.

The newts are kept in a 10 gallon aquarium with a couple small philodendrons, and moss and the bedding is the coconut bark/forest floor stuff available in retail pet stores. The bedding is about 6 inches deep. The also have a deep water bowl that is about 4" deep. It is buried in the mulch/bark so that they can get in and out of it easily.

I've read that this species does sort of hibernate. Is that not correct?

67 is not going to induce any sort of dormancy. Newts can become dormant if temperatures are too low for normal activity; it’s not hibernation in its true sense. 67 is closer to summer/spring temperatures than winter ones. If the animals are recently wild caught then their body clocks may still be in tune with a cool down.

Is the substrate moist? Too much moisture can sometimes be a problem with T.shanjing. If you haven’t found it already have a read of the following care sheet:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Tylototriton/T_shanjing.shtml

What kind of moss are you using?

Thanks for the information and link. I may have read that before I got them, but I'm reading it now in any case.

I don't think the substrate is too moist. I do mist it, but only every 4 days or so. The moss isn't very moist, but I do see they prefer it a bit dryer and try to keep it that way, mainly misting for the plants and to make sure it doesn't get too dry. The moss is the typical dry stuff purchased at a pet store.

I am thinking these are wild caught, but I have no way of knowing for certain as I purchased them at a local expo here in the Chicago area and the guy who imported them didn't say much other than they were among the best batch he'd ever imported and had them for 7 weeks before he started selling them. Apparently they die quite often after reaching the states, but like I said, these have been doing well (or so it seems) for 6 months.

She just seems restless. She went through a burrowing phase for about a month, but this last week she's been moving around far more than usual. She's eating fine though.

My shanjings become very inactive during the winter. They still eat, but less frequently. I think with mine it has more to do with photoperiod than temperature.

Is the moss from the pet shop sphagnum moss? It can be too acidic for use with amphibs. I just get moss from my garden.

Well, you yourself said they were imported which means they are WC for sure.
As Louise said, watch out for the sphagnum moss, some sources seem to be dangerously acidic.