Semi-aquatic vs. terrestrial...

K

kate

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Hi everyone,

I have a 10-gallon tank setup for my two Taricha torosa. Right now it's semi-aquatic, but the water section is larger than the land...
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Yes, it's a terribly sad little setup. (Ignore the filter, it's not working properly--I think the water level is too low for it--so I'm taking it back.) I really want to make it a paradise for Merry and Sam. (You can see Merry, my little fatty, hanging out in the front.) Unfortunately I'm working with a college-student budget.
Anyway, my question to you is: Which do you think is better for a Taricha torosa, a semi-aquatic setup like the one I have, or a terrestrial one with just a water dish they can get into?
 
Mods, you can delete this. I've got a different question now.
 
Oh, I have one. I just took it off when I was cleaning and figured it would be easier to take a picture that way.
 
I think you need to make the tank so that the newt can be easily climb up and down to access the land area. some live water plant will be nice too.
 
you could use a gravel false bottom that slopes up, and i would add like a pothos, or some java moss. Some more plants. They might enjoy a little soil of some kind.
 
O, another thing! Are you feeding them those newt pellets? Those are'nt bad, but there are such better foods for them. Give it a thought.
 
I'm thinking of trying frozen bloodworms. My roommate doesn't want me to have frozen newt food in our minifridge, but maybe I can put them inside an empty popsicle box or something. :p
 
lol, yeah, they are great food for your newts, and they are really not that bad in a freezer. They are packeged pretty tight and dont cause much harm... good luck with that!
 
Just a note. You have T. granulosa, not T. torosa. I keep my T.grans in a fully aquatic setup with two small islands. Only one of my females comes onto land for a few minutes at a time, the rest are permenantly aquatic.
 
Actually, the one at the front is a T. grans, but the one at the back is a T. torosa. The pet shop was very reputable so I was surprised to find that they had sold me two different species, but...ah, well. Sam (the T. torosa) stays on land more than Merry (the T. grans), which is why I need to have some of both.
 
Are you sure? If so, I wouldn't be keeping them in the same setup, mostly due to chances of crossbreeding (if they are indeed two sexes). I have yet to find a reputable pet shop that can tell the difference between T. grans and T. torosa.

Also, is that sphagnum moss on your land area? I'd remove it, as sphagnum can be quite acidic and is usually not a good thing to have in caudate tanks.
 
Your setup is fine! I would only change the water
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, its a little dirty... And put some live plants too! It should loke very nice! If you make changes put the pictures here for us! Dont you have Pippin and Frodo too?
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Both of those newts are in the same genera. They wouldn't cross-breed. It would just be another Taricha. Two animals in the same genera can mate without a problem.
 
Tim, responsible keepers should not cross-breed their animals because it dilutes the bloodlines. You do not want to cross two species. Because T. granulosa CAN breed with T. torosa, you should not keep them together.
 
The tank is fine, but you could easily make it fully aquatic with just a piece of cork bark floating on top. I have two granulosa in a ten gallon right now awaiting transfer to a larger set up that has two t.gran in it already. They seem fine in the aquatic set up, and pull up on the cork from time to time. I've put a big chunk of Pothos in and it's growing well.Java fern is also nice. If you do have a torosa, I understand they are a lot more terrestrial. If so, they probably should be in different vivaria.

GE

p.s if you can, feed them live earth worms. They are available at most bait shops and your newts will thrive on them.
 
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