Neotenic Newts/Salamanders

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TheAmphibianGuy

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Is there any species of Newts or Salamanders (Not in the genus Ambystoma) that will easily become paedomorphic that are readily available in the pet trade?
 
The peninsula newt (Notophthalmus viridescens piaropicola) is often neotenic, and there are some no doubt field collected ones for sale on Kingsnake.com right now. Neoteny isn't something that you can easily predict though, you can't just look at one right at hatching and call it neotenic. (Typically) You just have to wait and see if it does or does not morph
 
Here's a thread you might find helpful.. I believe that some of these may not be available in the pet trade but if you find one that you are interested in, you can always do some research to see if they are available and/or look into some breeders. Hope that helps! :)

Caudata Forum - Species with neotenic members
 
Alpine newts (especially 2 the Italian subspecies) are very prone to retaining their gills and some larval characteristics for a couple of years, but not as many become truely Neotenic (adult retaining larval characteristics) though it does happen more than in many other species. Triturus species quite often retain gills for a couple of years, but again, not many will become truely Neotenic. For example, as far as I know, there is only one documented case of true neoteny in Triturus marmoratus, and none for T. pygmaeus. Lissotriton species are quite prone to neoteny, there are lots of cases of Neotenic smooth newts, Lissotriton vulgaris. A lot of cases of neoteny end up just being 'arrested development' and many newts which retain larval characteristics for 2-3 years do eventually look just like normal adults of the species, however they are still fascinating.
 
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