New Tylototriton Shanjing - need tips on care

Just bought a pair of what I believe to be Tylototriton shanjing. They were sold to me as a "mated pair" and I have had them for a week now.

Tips on care would be much appreciated. I have them in a 20 gallon long aquarium with water dish, log to hide under, and peat moss based material to a depth of about two inches. Three plants and a full spectrum light. I am feeding them crickets but they only seem to come out at night and then I don't see crickets the next day!

Have a look at this link :-

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tylototriton shanjing


If you use the search function in the green bar towards the top of the page, you'll find even more information.

I would say those are T.kweichowensis rather than shanjing, but since these species may well form a complex, it is hard to say sometimes.

You can find caresheets for this genus in my signature.
Edit: Julia beat me to it so nevermind xD

These are T.cf.kweichowensis. They're not T.shanjing, and almost certainly not T.kweichowensis, but will be similar in ecology to both. I doubt they're a "mated pair", as that implies pair bonds which probably don't exist in this genus. What little information is available on them so far has been posted in a similar thread within the last few months.

in this thread someone asked for ID on a very similar animal.

Personally, I'm plenty confused about the whole shanjing/ kweichowensis/ verrucosus fruit salad. There seem to be intermediate forms between each of these. All of them are spectacular animals, however. Good luck with yours!

AW: Re: New Tylototriton Shanjing - need tips on care

Please look here: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...chinotriton/72228-tylototriton-id-needed.html

Yeah. They look exactly like mine. I think mine are T. kweichowensis so... where did you by them from? The place I bought them from said they were T. shanjing.

Alex, I will accept that these are indeed T. kewichoensis, since more than one of you say so. I am certainly no expert. The people at the pet shop where I bought these beauties only knew they were "Emperor Newts". I did not know even enough to inquire which one since I thought there was only one kind.

I was also suspicious of the "mated pair" spiel. I have no idea how they would know that since they had evidently only been in the shop for 3 months max.

Since I have had them (a little over one week) I have only seen both of them out of hiding one time. The rest of the time one of them comes out and the other stays hidden. I have put crickets in there every two days or so, and they all disappear.

Last time i was in the shop they were trying to sell me an expensive set up that has a waterfall and a partial water area - told me that running water was what they needed to breed. I suspect there is a bit more to it than that - such as shifting temperatures and maybe other requirements.

Appreciate links to relevant threads that might help me.

Thank you for all your replies.

After two weeks I finally see both newts out and about in the mornings. I put about 10 crickets in there last night and don't see any now. Evidently they are very nocturnal. When I turn the light on, they go into hiding.

I will have to find a bait shop and see if I can start some earthworms in a corner somewhere on the patio. Also I will see if I can find some waxworms. I think Petco sells them, but asking around they seem to be hard to find.

One of the newts seems to have a sore on one of its front legs. It is a shiny patch about at the elbow joint. I have been noticing this and it seems to be more prominent now. Both newts are coming out more during the day and they have both been hand fed with worms. So they are mostly doing very well, but then there is this problem.

I am going to remove the animal with the sore from the 20 gallon terrarium, look it over thoroughly and move it into a small quarantine cage. I have some tropical fish remedies I could try (Melafix, Maracyn) but I know they don't care too much for immersion in water since they don't go into the water dish at all except at rare intervals. I also have some Neosporin- ingredients in it are Bacitracin, Neomycin and Polymyxin. Does anyone know if this would work or have any other suggestions I could try?

Ah...sores, typical :S
I´d be very wary of using products intended for fish, many are highly toxic for amphibians. I think Neosporin is recommended as a possible treatment, in which case you´d need the kind without painkillers (very important!).
You can find more info on treating sores in the CC articles in my signature, and around the forums. They are a common problem with WC Tylototriton.

Sore looked much worse on Monday, so I pulled the salamander out, placed in quarantine cage downstairs (plastic cage with ventilated top and paper towels, water dish). Last three days treating with Furan-2 - 15 minute baths twice a day. I have also applied Neosporin.

Result seems to be that the sore is starting to heal, it is less white and it is certainly not any larger. Hopeful that continuing progress will be made.

Try to keep the animal as cool as you can, at least around 15C. This will slow bacterial growth and can help it's immune system recover - very often these sores are symptoms of systemic infections that set in due to a depressed immune system following shipping stress. Watch out for new sores on both animals as they can start appearing after quite some time. The neosporin often has good results, so good luck with that.

I got some a few months ago that also had some little sores, I used neosporin and silvadene to heal them (the silvadene worked better, but you have to get it from a doctor, I think, or ask a nurse friend if you have one). Also I dabbed a q-tip with some hydrogen peroxide and then did it again w/ water before I treated them.

I can keep the air conditioning on so that it is about 70 degrees during the day but unless someone else has another suggestion that's about all I know to do. I am sure that the pet store environment was a lot warmer that this, and that was contributing to the problem. When I first bought the newts, I could see this lighter gray shiny patch, where this sore eventually developed. But I thought it was OK since it wasn't white. I have already learned a lot.

I am now questioning my wisdom in trying to keep these creatures in Florida. In the past, I have had complete blackouts for 5 days with hurricanes. I never lost any tropical fish during those power outages, but I wonder if I would lose these newts with the high temperatures. I love them though, they are wonderful creatures.

For now, I plan to continue this treatment routine since the sore seems to be at least not as white and not spreading.

I plan to rework the terrarium since I have learned more about the proper materials to use reading the information on this forum. I have a mainly peat moss and bark base, which I understand is unsuitable, but which the pet store recommended to me. I don't want the other newt to get these sores because of my unsuitable conditions!

Both newts are eating. The one with the sore ate two earthworms and might have eaten more if I had anymore available!

The medication I have seen recommended for sores on Tylototriton (which is a common problem for new imports) is silvadene cream (silver sulfadiazine). It's an ointment. I'm not sure if it's available over the counter or if you'd need to get it from a vet. Some vets will sell you such things without the expense of an exam (for an animal they have no experience with anyway).

I would certainly be willing to try the silvadene if I could get my hands on some. I will look at over the counter items. I called a couple of vets and they are all booked on Saturdays - the only day I could possibly get out there since I work full time. I could try calling again and getting in next Saturday - but by then the problem may be resolved.

I think very few vets really know what they are doing when it comes to newts, and I don't want to be ripped off either. There are some very high priced vets in this area that just want a fancy new building.

I just wanted to say I am happy to report that the treatments seem to have been successful, since the sore is turning dark now to match the surrounding skin. Also the salamander ate another worm last night. Wow seeing that white patch on the dark skin was scary!

I intend to keep the animal in quarantine for the remainder of the month, and watch it closely, but will discontinue any further treatments unless I see the sore once again getting worse.

I just wanted to report that after a month in quarantine the sore has healed but now the animal has really gotten fat from eating so many earthworms! I thought it would be a good idea to feed the sick one more than I normally would, but now its really obese looking. The quarantined salamander has a bigger appetite than the other one - I will say it is probably a female so will call her "she". She eats two earthworms while the male upstairs only eats one.

I don't think they had been fed anything but crickets when they were in the pet store.

I hope for continued improvement for the one in quarantine. I will keep her there for a few more days and watch her closely before returning her to the terrarium with the other one.

That is good news. What did you use to treat the sore?