ID on Newts?

Hey guys, Just wondering if you can help ID these newts. At least one appears to be a Chinese Firebelly but the rest I'm unsure of:



I'm considering adopting at least one or two of them. But we'll see... depends on how much space I have at my place.

What do the undersides of the others look like? I think the one in your hand is a CFB. Their colors can vary widely in the species and even between the same individual at different times (they can change color). The one beside it in the lower picture resembles one of my morphs, also a CFB w/ that faint orange line down the back. It's belly is characteristically orange-red.

I'm sure some of the other more experienced hobbyists will chime in and solve this!

Dana

First pic looks like two species, Paramesotriton Chinensis and Pachytriton Labiatus. The rest of the pics are Paramesotriton Chinensis.

I agree with Greewok. None of them looks like CFB. The one held in your hand is definitely a Paramesotriton (warty newt), but I couldn't tell you which species. The one in the second photo is odd, but probably just an unusually colored warty. The one that is dead-center in the first photo is probably a paddletail (Pachytriton). Note that both warties and paddletails have aggression issues, so keeping two or more could be risky.

Thanks guys! Those pictures were taken by an animal rescue and so those aren't my hands

Apparently, they currently are housing them all together and that's how it was with the previous owner who they rescued the newts from. Obviously, they don't have too much knowledge of newts in general to know that it's not wise to keep different species together, but the rescue says they've been cohabiting like this since the previous owner had them. This kinda concerns me a bit and it would be nice to provide for them a nice home. Anyway, they were charging an 'adoption fee' of $3.50 per newt but I talked the lady down to just giving them away to me at no charge; with the exception that I drive down there or she ships them to me. I'm going with the former option however to ensure their well-being. The only issue is that I have two aquariums; neither of which are vacant. I have 3 P.Waltls in my 20gal and currently one CBN in my 10gal. I'm considering partitioning the 10gal to put maybe one or two of these in but I'm not sure... if not, I'm gonna have to try scrounging around for an empty tank for these guys.

Any suggestions?

Both of those newts are an aggressive species and I seriously doubt the lived together in the same tank with the previous owner without any aggression issues. Honestly, I would just go to Wal-mart and buy two ten gallon tanks.

Greatwtehunter said:

Both of those newts are an aggressive species and I seriously doubt the lived together in the same tank with the previous owner without any aggression issues. Honestly, I would just go to Wal-mart and buy two ten gallon tanks.

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Hmmm... I'll probably end up doing that. Or at least getting a couple of those cheap plastic aquarium tanks for temporary holding before I invest in nicer aquariums.

Anybody know if any of these newts will get particularly huge?

EDIT: Hmmm, in looking at the photos and browsing the species section, some of the newts do appear to be P.Chinensis. But I'm just not sure about the others... it's hard to tell if the dead-center one really is a paddle tail or not from that angle. But I asked the lady to take more pics if she can. Hopefully she will... otherwise, I guess I'll find out on [hopefully] Saturday when I go get them.

I emailed Aaron, who I got my P.Waltls from, to see if he might have any aquariums available to buy or give away. That would be super awesome if he did

They look like they are near full grown now so don't expect much more growth from them.

To me, in the first pic I see P. chinensis / hongkongensis, Cynops orientalis / ensicauda, and Pachytriton labiatus.

Second pic I see Cynops orientalis/ensicauda.

Third and fourth pic I see P. chinensis/ hongkongensis.

All three species need their own tank! Good luck. Love asian newts.

Oh yeah...make sure you get them in some deeper water with land areas, though. Especially with the Pachytritons (paddletails). You could get away with keeping the Paramesotritons and Cynops terrestrial if you wanted, though, but it's more of a hassle.

No orientalis in those pictures, i´m pretty sure.
Two of the newts in the first picture could be Pachytriton, but hard to tell. The rest are definitely Paramesotriton.
That´s way too little water for any of them, plus there doesn´t seem to be walls or a lid Ô_o

azhael said:

That´s way too little water for any of them, plus there doesn´t seem to be walls or a lid Ô_o

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I agree... that's why I want to get them outta there asap. They're being kept in snake bins currently and the lady at the rescue has very little knowledge of newts so obviously they are not being kept in the best conditions. Hopefully none of them escape!

I plan to get these guys on Saturday. I may have to get one or two temporary holding tanks for them. Gosh, I have no idea where I'm gonna put these guys (in my actual house...haha)

I'd take some better photos of the ones you take home, if I were you. That way, you can get a definitive species ID.

Nathan050793 said:

I'd take some better photos of the ones you take home, if I were you. That way, you can get a definitive species ID.

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Will do... in that case I need to ID the one I have currently which I think is a CFB. It may very well be a Paramesotriton instead - I noticed CFBs tend to have a majority of the underside orange. Mine is mostly black/dark with a number of orange spots. But he's smaller as well.

Anyway, I can't wait till Sat.

Post a picture and we will identify your newt, no problem.

Turns out that all 5 newts, which were rescued, came from a really bad situation where the owner was extremely neglectful. The lady from the rescue who I initially contacted said she didn't have the resources to keep them and they are in really bad shape, so she ended up giving them away to another rescue who does have the means to care for them. The woman at the other rescue says that the newts are "sick" or have a "disease" but wasn't clear on what it is. I plan on calling to find out what's up and to see if they'll still be available to take in. Apparently, she wants to care for them and nurse them back to good health beforehand. My thing is, why not just take them to a vet? Maybe there's not one within the vicinity. I wonder if most vets are willing help out animal rescues for free too...