Taricha torosa set up preferences?

Hey there,
Firstly, I ought to point out that I've read the caresheets, aswell as the setup artictles on caudata culture. As one of the species I'm looking into, I'd looked into T.torosa's housing requirements. I'm quite uncertain as to what the most appropriate setup is, given that some articles suggest terristrial, whilst other sources even suggest keeping them totally aquatic. I understand that torosa can require an absorbent substrate if kept terrestrial, as outlined in the cc article; other than that, is there any other specific requirement? Will additions such as dried leaves, moss, bark be appropriate?
Apologies if I've overlooked anything; I've looked at quite a few sources now and feel I may be mixing them up as I type...
I'm just looking for annecdotal evidence really; and what people find works best.

Hi KarlJefferson29,
so I know all Taricha the only one that can remain fully aquatic is T.granulosa, the other seems to me that all they need to setup semi aquatic.
There is nothing better than reading the caresheets when you want to create a setup, it is a fact.
Well! Like what you said should not be a big help leave you a hint. It's something I usually do when I think of an elaborate setup. Search on google pictures of the natural habitat of the species in question and try to recreate it as accurately as you can!

cheers

Hey there!

I kept my Taricha torosa pair on Eco-Earth with a tupperware of water lowered into the dirt for their swimming. They liked to snoop around under bits of log, bark and leaves. I think moss or some sort of softening for the substrate adds interest and texture for them. This species is truly fun to keep- just be sure to keep that Eco-earth ( if you use it) moist or else they stay in the water bowl. When the habitat was kept moist enough one would hang out under the bark pieces for siestas. My two liked to walk around and hunt when I came home from school.

Best wishes.

Fantastic; thanks. This reaffirms the set-up I was considering; and offers further helpful suggestions. I was going to opt for a mixture of top-soil and coco-fibre as a substrate. I was also planning on adding leaf-litter; a reliable, albeit dated book I own suggests using Oak leaves, however I'm sure I've read a post elsewhere on the form suggesting these are innappropriate (I can't recall what the reason was). Have you used these leaves in the past?
I ought to add this is all in consideration, should I optain this species.

I never used Oak, partly because there are no trees near me, but they are probably warned against because the acorns at least carry toxins. The rest of the plant may be suspect due to that fact alone. Native people had to leach out the toxins before using the acorns in pemmican.

The leaves I did try were some Fern fronds broken off from my backyard. I also played around with concord grape leaves from my backyard arbor. I have a magnolia tree and I put a few of those leaves in. The grape leaves had to be soaked for a while and rubbed to get the hairs off and then they grew mold very quickly so I had to change them out often if/when I used them. The magnolia leaves worked well for me since they are waxy and didn't decompose quickly. The ferns were the best middle ground for my pair of newts; they got soft and wet enough to be appealing but didn't encourage mold as quickly as the grape leaves.

You'll have to just experiment within the confines of the safe plants. This makes it interesting for the animals as well and is a way of enriching their habitat.

hi guys , karl , you'd be very lucky to find these newts in the uk ! i have just bought a pair from pollywog , and i have one that i got a couple of years ago that i thought was a granulosa until it became terrestrial in the summer , i had one granulosa i found in the street as a kid , i had her for 22 years and despite my best efforts i could never find a single tankmate for her unfortunately she died about two months after i found the torosa , if i manage to breed these newts in captivity i'll be sure to offer some in the trade section ...these are great and very characterful newts , it's a shame we dont see them more often on uk shores !