Question: Fire belly newt tank

There are also other "fire-bellies": Cynops ensicauda, C. cyanurus and C. pyrrhogaster. All of these would have the advantage of tolerating slightly higher temperatures than C. orientalis. I've seen someone advertising the first species here in the For Sale section recently.
Captive bred usually means that you get the animals as terrestrial juveniles and have to raise them. It can be a little more difficult but it's very rewarding.

yeah I have read they stay on the land a lot until they want to venture into the water
I'd prefer to raise them from juveniles so i can enjoy watching them grow

I will look into the other "fire bellies" I knew there were others but I didn't know how closely they were
related or if they required the same enclosures. Thanks!

Re my new tank... I've had the water standing overnight with loads of things (plants, rocks, filter) from the old tank in it... will this definitely help the water cycle faster? The newts are looking pretty pissed off in their bare tank, I'd like to move them and the old water over soon. I need to wait a while anyway for the water to clear after the gravel went in. The filter is running too, but obviously it's now way to small for the tank, so I doubt it's doing all that much to help.

Rad, amongst the Cynops / Hypselotriton group, the easiest are H.cyanurus. The juveniles can be raised aquatically without problems, which may not be possible with other species. Other than that they are all very similar and can be raised and cared for through adulthood in the same way. H.orientalis is not always easy to find from breeders, but with enough patience it´s definitely possible to find them and get them shipped to you. H.cyanurus and C.pyrrhogaster shouldn´t be too difficult to find, C.ensicauda possibly rarer. Jen might have some, check her ads.

Personally, even though i don´t keep them (yet ) i think H.cyanurus is the perfect choice. Excellent choice in every way when it comes to small sized newts.

Unless you are buying the newts from a breeder, make sure you know what species they are (for definite). When I first saw the paddle-tails, they were labelled 'fire bellies'. I took one look and knew that they weren't, went away, researched, found out what they were, and bought them 2 days later.

haha yeah i have already read about this mishap. I know the difference
between paddle tails though
I guess a lot of people just see the orange on the belly and they don't know any better so they just call it fire belly. If other businesses conducted business like most pet shops do then the world would be doomed lol.
@ hardware store - "Hey what kind of wood is this? Maple or Birch?"
employee - "Oh I dunno... I just know it's some kind of wood..."
haha.

And @ Azhael, thanks for the information! I have been looking these up too. I do really like the H. cyanurus also :] Now I just have to find someone who breeds them.

@l0uiswh0: Thanks for the comment about feeding them in a separate tank, I was considering it for my newts, but wasn't sure if it would work. I'll give it a try next feeding time

Hi Angie, I just use a small tupperware box half filled with tank water. Best of luck

I've started detailing my learning curves on my hilarious* new blog. If anyone's interested, go check it out

Selective Newtism




*Hilarity may not be included.

L0uiswh0, I've got a 4 litre fish bowl that I'm going to use for feeding the monsters, hopefully it'll lead to less food guarding from Imi. If the problem continues, they'll have to take turns in the food bowl.

By the way - I had a read of the blog, and found it funny

Hehe, cheers ^^

Update:

So I was picking something up off craigslist for my dad and I saw a pet store and so on the way back
I stopped in there and they had fire belly newts (they look like the chinese ones to me) I'll include pictures.
They were housed in terrible conditions, gravel, no land or anything to climb on hardly, and they had them in with like 40 guppies! They might have been tetras, I didn't really pay attention. But these are tropical fish so I can't imagine the temperature they were housing the newts at.

I asked the guy there which he was pretty nice and actually knowledgeable whether they were captive bred or wild caught and he said they were captive bred from a breeder in town. Sooooo
I bought two (had to save them!) and they seem to be so much happier already. One actually ate a worm from my hand already. They are definitely babies still probably 2 inches long. One is all black and the other is more plump and is more of a deep chocolate color. The tank I have them in is only a 10 gallon but I'm on the search for a good second hand 20 gallon. This tank will do for now especially since they're not really that aquatic yet, they are still landlubbers just means I'll have to do more water changes :-0

Anyway, I thought I'd update the thread. They are so tiny it's adorable :]

have some hornwort that i bought today and some wisteria in there now with a floating piece of driftwood. simple but works i suppose. i also escaped proofed the corners of the tank with window screen material until I can get a proper cover for the tank. oh yeah, and they love to cuddle and lay by each other which i thought was super cool. glad they get along well.

Well...personally i don´t buy it...those are not CB. Adult size (they can be mature at a bit more than 2 inches) and with such a deep red belly, plus being kept in clearly inadequate conditions, those newts are definitely WC. I really wish people would have at least one honest bone in their bodies and not lie about this stuff, it´s ridiculous....
The brownish one is strange. There have been a small number of such animals in the trade in the last few years. It´s not entirely clear if they are H.orientalis.
They are very unlikely to go fully aquatic as things are. They will need plenty of plants reaching the surface to hang on to and feel safe. Otherwise they´ll keep trying to climb the glass and swim frantically, which has its dangers.

Just blocking the corners won´t be enough, you need a 100% scape proof cover. You´d be amazed at how good this guys can be at scaping when they want to...ninja stuff...

really? you think they're WC? :-/ Well I was thinking that but the guy ensured me they were captive bred. I will go back and have him check for me to know for sure, he said he could email the guy he got them from. I didn't know they were already mature at this size! I guess they aren't little babies after all lol. And yes the brown one is kinda strange but today he looks more blackish so I'm not sure if it will fade in time or what's going on with the color. But as far as his features and structure goes they are the same. I wish I had a better camera so I could take close up pictures to capture their detail. The brown one went fully aquatic yesterday for about an hour and then came back to perch on the driftwood. I have some plants they can rest on (hornwort) but i do need to get more.