Can newts see in the dark?

sammannell · Dec 4, 2016

Hey guys.. important question here haha can newts see in the dark?!

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)

mr cyclone · Dec 5, 2016

Yes most are nocturnal

stanleyc · Dec 5, 2016

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 · Dec 5, 2016

Hi Sam, good question. Try Google Scholar. Just type in your question,
It would seem there are a whole lot of things newts can do in the dark.
Take a look at this: Displaying in the dark: light-dependent alternative mating tactics in the Alpine newt | SpringerLink

Remember there's dark and there's DARK. You have senses working together and it appears given particular environmental conditions, one sense will take a lead.

sammannell · Dec 5, 2016

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

JadeP · Dec 6, 2016

That's pretty cool

JadeP · Dec 6, 2016

I think so, but it probably depends on species

sammannell · Dec 7, 2016

Here is said newt hiding after tipping it over

kamil · Oct 28, 2017

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 · Oct 28, 2017

kamil said:
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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Can newts see in the dark?

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