Substrates for juvenile Triturus

What are the recommended substrates for a terrestrial setup for juvenile Triturus? Are unbleached paper towels the favorite? What works well for a more natural looking setup?

What I do is keep them in an aquatic setup with a large driftwood island in the center. I've found that boscai and vulgaris juvies do well like this.

Aaron

Hi Jennifer,
I was actually pondering that exact same question a little while ago.

Right now I have a few Triturus juvies that I'm keeping on damp soil substrate. This is the way I've kept all of my Triturus and Cynops juvies. I am curious to hear some other methods.

according to me it depends from the species: I keep the juvies of triturus cristatus complex,t.marmoratus and alpestris in totally acquatic setups, while I kept vulgaris, vittatus and helveticus on damp paper or damp soil, feeding them small mealworms and whiteworms!
what species are you going to keep?
Leo

Hi!

I kept my Juveniles on Earth and/or moss. This has a natural look and the animals can hide inside that.
My T. vulgaris schmidtlerorum were on (little wet) earth and my T. vit. vittatus are (when they are on Land) an dry (or just a little wet) earth (in all tanks is moos, leaves,...)

There was a paper published a while ago on this very subject which compared using paper towels with a soil- based setup. The soil-based setup had much better success rates. It was thought that this was probably due to a better humidity gradient, allowing newts to choose their preferred wetness. I can find the reference if anyone's interested.

Personally I use an aquatic setup when I can (cristatus group, alpestris) and for anything else I use spent potting compost as a base, with moss on top (I collect my own moss). I also tend to put pieces of wood/bark or slate on top of the moss, and between the moss and soil- some newts seem to like to have physical contact above and below. I spray regularly with water to keep the moisture up.

That is an interesting theme. The ones that keep juveniles completely aquatic how deep is the water level? Do you use plenty of water plants and other items to avoid sinking? Why we don’t put some pictures of our juveniles setups? I think is one of the most interesting and less commented theme.

That is an interesting theme. The ones that keep juveniles completely aquatic how deep is the water level? Do you use plenty of water plants and other items to avoid sinking? Why we don’t put some pictures of our juveniles setups? I think is one of the most interesting and less commented themes.

I kept my carnifex (and also alpestris apuanus) juveniles in 10cm of water, while i keep marmoratus (5cm long) in 3cm of water...in both cases I put lots of plants (elodea/egeria, ceratophyllum) and a small floating island of bark...
when I have time enough I'll post here some photos!
Leo

I have tried various substrates for terrestrial juvaniles, and have the best results with a mixture of moss at on side and dead leaves at the other.
On top of this I put pieces of bark-wood etc.
The moss side I keep damp with regular mistings, while the other end is left dry.

I also add a very shallow water bowl to the set ups in which I will sometimes put live bloodworm.
When I tried the paper towelling method, the juvies seemed to spend all the time in hiding, but with the moss-leaves I watch the young newts each evening out hunting for food.
MORG

Wow, thanks for all the answers! It seems that some species are adaptable to either terrestrial or semi-aquatic setups. I kept T. karelinii juveniles semi-aquatic, but I know someone else that did fine keeping them terrestrial. Are there some species that are absolutely terrestrial?

When you guys say "moss" I assume you mean live moss? Unfortunately, I don't have any source for live moss, except mail order.

Caleb - I would be very interested in that reference, if you can post it. Sounds like and interesting article.

Hi,
I keep my t.marmoratus and t.vittatus on fine orchid bark and moss. I cut terracotta plant pots in half for cool shelters (it also holds water well for humidity). I spray daily with pond water and supply lots of ventilation.
I keep Japanese sword tail babies in 10mm of water with a large sandstone island covered in moss. Again lots of ventilation!

Does anyone think it is harmful to keep C. ensicauda juvies on soil substrate? I have am getting a few, and it seems that most people keep them in a few mm of water with a land island, as opposed to on soil substrate.
Thanks

Jennifer-
the article is
Waights, V., 1995. Captive maintenance of adults and juveniles of the genus Triturus during the terrestrial phase. Alytes 13(2): 77-80.
If you can't get hold of it easily, email me, and I might be able to send you a scan.

The moss I use is the stuff that grows on damp lawns- you can pull up big lumps if you find a good spot. It might be live when it's pulled up, but it still holds water well enough when it's dead.

On the subject of aquatic setups, I use bare tanks with lots of elodea/egeria, which floats near enough the surface to let the newts put their heads above water. When it comes to clean them out, I just take the newts out, tip the whole lot into a net, rinse with water, put clean water in the tank, and tip it all back in.

The Greater Manchester Great Crested Newt Group did some work on raising T. cristatus for repopulating ponds- they decided that releasing yearlings gave the best results, and devised a system for raising them as rapidly as possible. As I remember, they used bare tanks (no weeds), around 15cm water, with a floating two-tiered polystyrene island (they thought that a roof on the island better maintained humidity). They fed almost constantly with earthworms, and managed to grow some newts to a size of 15cm in a year.

Hi Jessica, C. e. popei juveniles are terrestrial for 1-3 years after metamorphoses so soil is in no way inherently harmful. Most people who force the juveniles to remain aquatic do so for ease of maintenance and accelerated growth.

Thanks Nate, I was hoping that was the case.

Jessica - the only harm, I would guess, is that they might grow a bit more slowly. When I kept juveniles in a 50/50 setup, the ones that stayed in the water grew faster than the ones that stayed on land. Many people, including me, have a more difficult time maintaining a terrarium (and providing terrestrial foods) than keeping an aquarium. I think those are the reasons people try to keep juvies semiaquatic instead of terrestrial.

Caleb - Thanks, I'll email you.