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Can newts see in the dark?

sammannell

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Hey guys.. important question here haha can newts see in the dark?! :confused:
I felt terrible turning of the light at night when I saw little foot was busy eating! (She's very fussy and unskilled when it comes to eating)

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stanleyc

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Yeah, I'm not sure if they can see with their eyes as well in the dark as during the day but they can certainly get around and hunt fine. As me cyclone said, most are nocturnal and do their hunting at night. I've dropped in black worms for my newts at night before before I went to sleep and the next morning all the worms are gone and my bewts have plump bellies. You should still feed before you sleep whenever you can just so you can better control how much they eat and how long uneaten food is left in the tank.
 

Blackbun

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sammannell

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Thank you everyone! Little foot was nice and plump in the morning :grin:

Will try to feed nice and early next time so I can move out the food dish, it just took a while for her to get into the food!

If i leave it in there too long the naughty bigger newts drag it in the water, tip it over, eat the food and then hide under it when I come by the tank haha! Crazy creatures :p
 

kamil

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I have built myself a IR videocamera once — the lightsource were cheap IR LEDs which spectrum was very close to (for humans) visible light. I am certain they were blended by the LEDs, at least some species. They were fleeing from the lightsource if it got too close. So what is dark for you can still be (and is) a good situation for your animals;)
 

Chinadog

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I have built myself a IR videocamera once — the lightsource were cheap IR LEDs which spectrum was very close to (for humans) visible light. I am certain they were blended by the LEDs, at least some species. They were fleeing from the lightsource if it got too close. So what is dark for you can still be (and is) a good situation for your animals;)

Interesting observation, something I haven't tried.
If I want to watch my newts after dark I use a red torch (bicycle rear light!). It's something I've always done to watch nocturnal catfish as red is apparently invisible to them, I think the newts can pick it up better than the fish, but they don't seem bothered by it and carry on as if I wasn't there.
 
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