N. kaiseri going diurnal...

After five weeks in the water, my N kaiseris have started to become bold and curious--and staying out and about 'til midday...

Is this usual? Or could it be that I've had a few days off and spent my mornings spring cleaning the newt room and they are full of curiosity? Two in particular seem to follow my every move, seeking different vantage points in their tank. It certainly makes a change from keeping them on and when I only saw them during tank clean out or by creeping in at night.

Unfortunately, there's been no sign of courting behaviour--they're still not maximum size-- and it looks like I'll have to do as Alan Cann said--dry them off and try again next year...

I'm a touch reluctant to send them back to their terrestrial tank, which is smaller, especially now I see them every day. I had thought of reducing the water level by a couple of centimetres each day to mimic the end of some Iranian wet season and leaving them with extra space. Can anyone see any merit in trying that?

I keep my kaiseri aquatically all year and I highly recommend keeping them this way. They grow better, you can see them eat, they lose their shyness and they are much more engaging and interactive with me. They come out to see what I'm doing and sometimes seem to beg for food. When they were courting this year, the male would display for me every time I went near the tank. I even got eggs which are now beginning to hatch. When I kept this species terrestrially in the past they grew very slowly and hid almost the entire time.

craig said:

I keep my kaiseri aquatically all year and I highly recommend keeping them this way. They grow better, you can see them eat, they lose their shyness and they are much more engaging and interactive with me. When they were courting this year, the male would display for me every time I went near the tank. I even got eggs which are now beginning to hatch.

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What changes did you make to trigger breeding if they were aquatic all year? Did you simply raise the water level, or allow warmer water conditions?
On the other hand, you made some great points about visibilty, and your ability to monitor things.
Best of luck with the larvs, and keep us posted!

-jbherpin-

platinum said:

After five weeks in the water, my N kaiseris have started to become bold and curious--and staying out and about 'til midday... Is this usual?

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No, not unusual at all in the aquatic phase, and presumably similar to their breeding-related behaviour in the wild.

Seems right. My adults are kept aquatic year round and are typically visible throughout the day. I drop the water temps (rather modestly) in the winter to induce breeding.

salvoz said:

Seems right. My adults are kept aquatic year round and are typically visible throughout the day. I drop the water temps (rather modestly) in the winter to induce breeding.

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when you say rather modestly , how low do you go and how fast do you drop them from what temperature.

I keep mine aquatic all year long at around a constant 68F.

adults are kept around low to mid seventies, occasionally higher, in the summer. In December or so I quickly drop these temps by around 10-15F on average via evaporative cooling--by pointing one or computer fans on the water. Tail fanning typically starts within days. I keep this up for 2-3 mos or so, depending on egg laying progress...