Beginner Help

Hey guys,

I'm hopefully going to be buying 4 C.Orientalis newts sometime soon. I want to get the terrarium set up right first time round (save me buying more than I need). So after lots of reading about setups and the species I have come up with a few ideas for my terrarium, that I would like to run past people with experience (just to make sure I dont miss something fundamental).

So heres my "planned" setup.

I'm going to buy an clearseal aquarium 30"x15"x12". I will get a piece of glass cut that is approx 7" wide and the length of the width of the tank and using aquarium sealant split the tank into 2 sections (1/3 and 2/3). I will fill the 1/3 section with gravel to create a land mass and hopefully create a waterfall object running through it with some plants and a few rocks in. In the other section I will have filled with water that has sat for 24hrs outside and put some aquatic plants and a few rocks in. There will be a filter in the tank to help keep it clean and keep the water balanced (Hopefully powering the waterfall feature).

My questions to you are, am I missing anything or do you have any suggestions about something I can do to improve this? C.Orientalis from what I have read need approx 1/3rd the tank as land, is this correct?

Also I was hoping to buy a snail or two to help keep the debris from the building up too quickly, however I have read that sometimes newts can try and eat them (causing them injury), is it safe to put a snail or two in with Orientalis or will it end in disaster?

Many thanks in advance,

Ash

I agree, a terrestrial area is a complete waste. It will also limit greatly the volume of water which will make things harder for you and less stable for the newts.
I personally would recommend a 60l standard tank for 4 adults, on the basis that the more water you have the easier the tank will be maintained, and the happier the newts will be.

I would also like to propose that you consider the fact that all pet-shop newts and certainly all Cynops orientalis, are wild-caught. This means they are awfully stressed and more often than not ill, because of the terrible neglect they suffer during importation and at the petshops. You can find lots of information about this around the forum.
I would strongly recommend that you get captive-bred animals from a breeder (luckily for you the UK is home to several, very skilled, quality breeders), be it of this species, or of an easier species such as any Triturus or P.waltl.

Pet-shop Cynops orientalis may be cheap and easily available, but then if problems arise (they often do), and you have to deal with a newt that is being devoured alive by an infection, or that is starving to death, it becomes a very unpleasent experience...of which the one who pays the higher price is the poor newt....

Well I'm slightly limited by space so would I be better getting just 2 newts and keeping the tank at the size I originally planned? I was only thinking 4 as more of a social setting for the newts.

Azhael, im glad you mentioned the pet shop newts as I originally planned to buy them from one. Could you point me in the right direction to find a UK breeder?

I think in that case I shall remove the terrestrial bit and place rocks etc that just breach the water. Would I be better with a slightly deeper depth on the water level if there is no need for terrestrial sections?

Ash

Even piling up rocks will be a waste of space in the tank. I have been filling up my tank with water up to 90% of the volume. I have started my Newt keeping hobby with a rock piling design for my CO's. But it turned out difficult to maintain as waste get trapped in there. Or what if the rocks pile collapses, I always worry about that.

Now, I mainly use a turtle dock and place the suckers a little lower than the water surface so that only a small portion is above water. My newts seldom go on land anyway and I have 30 of them. So, if your tank water parameters are good, the newts should spend little time on land.

Have you read this?

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

Thanks for the replies guys,

Johnny, I read that several times and I think thats where I got confused about the land as it says "Land areas can consist of stacked rocks which break the surface of the water or more elaborate, planted land areas can be provided" which I suppose me being me assumed that the more elaborate would be better.

MummyHamster, thanks for the info, I only chose the FireBelly Newts as everywhere I read seemed to suggest that they were ideal for beginner pets. However if alpine newts are easy enough to look after then I would be happy to keep them, the other one which Azhael mentioned (Triturus) also seemed quite good. I shall do some reading on both of those species first and decide from there. I can see I need to find out a little bit more before I actually take the plunge.

It´s so nice to see someone who takes his time and thinks it over before acquiring the animals. You are certainly on the right way to being a good keeper

If you decide to go for a Triturus, i would strongly advice to go for one of the "cristatus complex" species, which are VERY aquatic in captivity and extremely easy to keep. You can choose between T.dobrogicus, T.karelinii or T.carnifex. Being british T.cristatus is probably not an option or may require special papers.
I.alpestris is a superb choice as long as you can provide them with cool temps year-round.

Personally i would recommend Pleurodeles waltl as the ideal beginner species. They may not be as pretty as the other species, but they are very personable, very tolerant, very interesting, and VERY easy.

You can find breeders on the For Sale section in the forums, i´m sure you won´t have any trouble finding someone.

If you do want a land area I suggest you get a turtle dock, it floats on the water so you can get more water in .

dipsydoodle said:

If you do want a land area I suggest you get a turtle dock, it floats on the water so you can get more water in .

Click to expand...

I usually push the turtle dock a little down in the water to make it partially submerge into the water as well. Mine has the suckers for the glass to hold it in place. By making it partially submerged, I found it even more easy for the newts to climb up, also will less likely cause them to become too terrestrial. Although Chinese Fire Belly will not need much land area (adults), I think that a turtle dock can help you tell if the newts like the water quality. The turtle dock saved my entire colony from severe "Old Tank Syndrome".