Unsuccessful metamorphoses

Hello,
I've had grim luck w/ my baby newts. More than one occasion, our fire-bellied newt has layed eggs (i.e. over the years). They have hatched, we've seen the tadpoles grow and morph into small newts. Unfortunately, very few of her litters have made it.

Metamorphosis is supposed to a be milestone. But to me, it's more of a death sentence. Once they come to surface, they just never eat (for months). They hardly go in the water and just die off. I've tried everything I could. Tried live bloodworms, frozen bloodworms. Have tried moving them into a smaller shallower terrarium. Have left them in terrarium they were born in (land shelter provided).

Our last baby died a few weeks ago. Mama newt later layed more eggs and we currently have 3 more tadpoles. Fortunately, they seem very active/strong and are growing. But I almost loath the time when its their turn to come to the surface. This has been so heart-wrenching to watch, any suggestions?

I am sorry to hear of your losses. I for one know how frustrating this can be. I do know however that many aquatic newts that morph need a period of "terrestrial" time. This can last several months or several years depending on species. If you are C. cyanurus (which I do) they can be kept aquatic but they still need land areas and some just can't get used to capacity. If you have C. orientalis they need a terrestrial setup or they will drown. Also wingless fruit flies will work good in this situation. I also find I have more luck with blackworms. Hope this helps!

(btw for newts say larvae)

Mitch

Re: Unsuccessful metamorphases

It’s not uncommon for metamorphed Cynops to become very tricky to raise. Animals that once fed voraciously as larvae will often turn into shy, timid and fastidious newts the moment they leave the water.

From experience here are a few things to try;

• Feed the larvae really, really well and keep them cool to prevent early metamorphosis. The larger you can get the larvae the better chance you have of them surviving.

• Prepare well in advance! Newly metamorphed newts are tiny and they need a good supply of tiny live food. Prey items to consider are flightless fruit flies, white worms, blackworms/bloodworms, lesser waxmoth larvae, tropical woodlice, spring tails, tiny earthworms and hatchling crickets. Some of these can easily be cultured by yourself but require preparation well in advance. By offering a good variety you can often overcome the fussy eating phase.

• Raise them in a small container to allow close proximity to prey. I raise mine in small plastic tubs, the kind you buy crickets in and line them with damp paper towels. Deli tubs would work just as well with some ventilation holes. Provide cork hides and oak or beech leaves for cover. Change the paper towels once a week.

It’s worth mentioning that Cynops morphs are almost impossible to keep aquatic. From the offset the new morphs are hydrophobic and will want to remain terrestrial until they mature in one to two years.

I wonder if this article may help you: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/raising.shtml

The past few years I have been raising fire belly newts by following the advice given on this article and the large majority of the offspring make it. I hope this gives you new ideas to try, and please feel free to ask more questions.


Heather

I feed my firebelly larvae with live blackworms to get them as large as possible before morph. As each one climbs out on land, I move it to a terrarium (dirt substrate) and feed them live pinhead crickets, fruit flies, and blackworms in a shallow dish. I do occasionally have one die, but most of them do well. I tried to summarize the methods here:
http://www.caudata.org/people/JM/Cp_juv.html

Good evening,
I wanted to thank everyone for your help! I spoke w/ my fiancee regarding the matter, and he really wants to leave them (C. orientalis) in the terrarium (a good 5 inches deep w/ floating island). I have a link to a habitat that we used for our last newtlet, we thought it was a great idea, but are wary to use it again as our last one died:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753230
w/ the above, I placed frozen bloodworms in there every other day and changed the water about every 3 days.

re: dirt-based terrarium, would you happen to have a picture or example of one? Is it easy to maintain? Also, what are some good strategies for using live worms (keeping them accessible to newts, keeping isolated enough from poisoning the water)?

Let me know, and thanks!

There are photos in the link I gave in my previous post.

Regarding strategies for live blackworms... start with a water dish that the newtlets can climb in/out of easily. Add some water and small pebbles (which the blackworms curl around so they don't feel so inclined to climb out). Add a flat piece of plastic to make part of the water dish "sheltered". (Do not use cork bark for this, as the blackworms will just disappear into the pores of the cork.) The newtlets will go under the plastic to seek shelter and find themselves in the midst of their food. There is a photo of this kind of dish on the link in my previous message.