My Wen Xian Knobby Newts (T.wenxianensis)

Hi everyone!

Can't believe I haven't made a thread of the T.wenxianensis pair I bought a couple of months ago, bugger but not too worry!!

Anyway, got these two very young CB12 Wen Xian Knobby Newts (T.wenxianensis) which have Yellow-toes. Gorgeous little things they are, which were only 20-30mm when I got them however they have got a bit bigger since I first bought them. They could be potential breeders IF I can find a Unrelated specimen to go with them! Both are feeding incredibly well, however one is slightly larger than the other, so think there might be a little bit of a dominance thing going on with them.

Bit of information about the species: They originate from Wen Xian county in southern Gansu province and Pingwu, Qingchuan counties in northern Sichuan province. They can also be found in other counties such as Leishan in eastern Guizhou province, Zhongxian, Yunyang, Fengjie counties of Chongqing municipality and finally Shangzhi county of Hunan province. They are one of the rarer and more endangered species of the Tylototriton genus being evaluated as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2004.

Here are both of them about 1 week after I got them ©:


Here is the larger of the two ©:


Here is the smaller one out of the two ©:



Anyway, I am keeping them fully terrestrial currently, as they aren't from what I have found (and what I like to call) an Aquatically-keen species, but I do know that the species aren't really water goers until it is breeding season. Temperature wise, they seem to prefer temps along the lines of 18-20'c I did bring it a little lower around 16-17'c however they were less active (I am fully aware that naturally this species is supposed to hibernate).
There is a huge size difference with their tails, the larger one is larger purely for the fact of it's tail length which in comparison is so much bigger than the smaller individual. I am wondering if this is a indication of Gender already (perhaps being a Sexually Dimorphic species), as my Guizhou Crocodile Newts both have the same difference in their Genders. I will keep you all informed of this as they get older.
Obviously they are a Nocturnal species and have already perform some interesting behaviors such as Mimicry. One is more friendly than the other, and by friendly I do mean it doesn't immediately try to play dead the moment it realises it's being watched! lmao

Thank you for looking at my Thread/Photos!

Tyloguy

P.S Please do not use my photos without permission, as one or two people have tried passing off photos as their own.

The last picture is cute as anything, congrats and I hope you can find some unrelated animals to breed them with, once I finish school im making it my mission to track down some tylototriton they have the best look to them

Beautiful little newts, looking very healthy!

Thank you guys Gorgeous little thing's I must admit, both feeding incredibly well which I really wasn't expecting!! One, like I said is a bit smaller than the other however I do think its a case of Sexual Dimorphism at work lol

Munfy: Yeah I hope so too, I know not many breed most of the Tylototriton genus, even more so with these in particular, but hopefully I can find a unrelated of a similar age otherwise I would have to buy adult's and wait a fair long while for these to grow up.

Cliff: They really are, they have both got some lovely colourations on them aswell and those toes are getting more and more yellow!

very beautiful and unusual newts! congratulation!!! :happy:

Great looking newts. Cool little things for sure.

Thank you everyone

Yeah they are amazing little thing's, sort of surprised that more people aren't into all of the Tylototriton Genus.

Thought I would post another picture of the possible female, like I said before not entirely certain but the difference in size I feel could be Sexual Dimorphism at work. It's kinda hard at the moment to get a decent head shot of them both, as they pretty much go still the moment they realise they have been found (like they should do, evolution made them that way of course lol).



The pair of them are doing very well still hoping to maybe try and break the programming of freezing and playing dead a little bit in the future but not a huge deal if I can't

They're so sweet ! I love that they almost have a 'chibi'-esque appearance right now too haha. Congrats

Nice looking newts and pictures are great.Do you have a water bowl in with them? I see the substrate looks quite damp do they hide in the leaf litter also?
What seems to be their favourite staple of food?

mr cyclone said:

Nice looking newts and pictures are great.Do you have a water bowl in with them? I see the substrate looks quite damp do they hide in the leaf litter also?
What seems to be their favourite staple of food?

Click to expand...

Thank you Aaron

No, the only need for a water bowl in with them would be to shut up the so called "Animal Rights" fanatics that actually know nothing of most species and think everything has access to a bowl of water in the wild. They did have a small (incredibly small) water bowl in with them but they simply were not entering it and I know this because not even a speck of substrate has ever popped up in it. They are very much and primarily a Terrestrial species and only enter the water during the breeding season. When they get a little bit bigger, around 2-3 inches (shouldn't take long in my opinion as they are almost at 50mm) they will have a permanent source of water in their planted enclosure/setup but seeing as they are only a little bit more than 30mm.

Well, they like to hide in little damp burrows during the day and as soon as night fall comes they begin hunting. I have even witnessed it myself by turning off the light and seeing them leave the Cork bark they particularly like to hide under. As for the leaf litter, they do like to hide amongst it under the Cork Bark.

Food wise, they seem to go for all of it with a personal preference for Crickets currently which is something I didn't expect. Fruit Flies have been tried and they didn't seem to enjoy them as much and the Lesser Waxworms go down a treat also.

You may be only half correct about the water bowl,my shanjing juves all bathed sometimes daily,and they are a species deemed as highly terrestrial,the water bowl sometimes is a safety net incase the terrarium becomes too dry or to aid shedding.Wenxi are the least aquatic so i understand your views.My tylos have never paid much attention to fruitflies unfortunately and seemed to have a preference for crickets also.I do tend to try and feed the adults on worms .keep up the good work

mr cyclone said:

You may be only half correct about the water bowl,my shanjing juves all bathed sometimes daily,and they are a species deemed as highly terrestrial,the water bowl sometimes is a safety net incase the terrarium becomes too dry or to aid shedding.Wenxi are the least aquatic so i understand your views.My tylos have never paid much attention to fruitflies unfortunately and seemed to have a preference for crickets also.I do tend to try and feed the adults on worms .keep up the good work

Click to expand...

Well if I'm honest in my experience T.shanjing are far more Aquatic, most views I have seen from others have said there shanjing are more aquatic but thats an entirely different species in the genus, it would be like comparing a T.verrucosus with a T.kweichowensis. Even the paper you gave to me (which is a seriously good insight into the species in the wild) states they hardly if ever enter the water outside of breeding season. Don't get me wrong I have tried them with water but they simply aren't interested, there is no need to worry about the tank becoming too dry because they get sprayed twice daily and will be more during their "Wet Season". I can see what you mean it's just not what the species are actually like.

Well these are still very very small so feeding them Earth Worms even cut into bits would still be too big for them. So foods, such as 1st Crickets (currently) and Fruit Flies with Lesser Waxworm is probably the best things to use until the time they can eat Earth Worms.

Thank you Aaron

Hey all,

Thought I would upload some last photographs before I stop taking them for a while, well at least till they are a bit older! lol



My fave shoot I have ever taken! lol


Enjoy, also I am thinking about doing a care sheet soon so beware! lol

Thanks

Tylodude

PS Please don't use these photos as they are owned by me, please ask permission before using!

Great photos and the newts are looking great as well.

Beautiful newts Josh.

Great additions your collections lucky

Thank you both

Yeah they are gorgeous little things that are slowly getting bigger everyday!

Hi all,

Been a couple of months since my last update so going to fill you all in now

Both specimens have certainly grown a lot more and it is now apparent that I have a male and female individuals (Female been that larger of the pair). There were minor problems a little while ago with the male individual who appeared to being out competed for food by the female (Who is a gutsy little thing lol), so they were separated for a few weeks to build him up a little bit!

Anyway, both are doing fantastically and are about 50-60mm (one larger than the other)

Thanks for reading, I shall post anything for further updates