How to get juvie P. caudopunctatus to take the plunge?

OK..I've had three juve P.Caudopunctatus for about 3 months. I got them when they were fairly new morphs. They are eating well but growing fairly slowly.

One is a bit larger then the rest so I decided to try it out in the water.I've read they grow much better in the water. So I set up a 5 gallon with many rocks...some plants and a bubbler. I put it in on the rock and he did a few walk abouts.Then straight up the glass. I gently removed the little guy and put it on some plants in the water.It flipped and went 100 miles an hour until it hit the rock. Then back up the glass. This went on for several hours and I finally broke down and put him back in his little tupperware terrestrial world. He's as happy as a clam again.

So..does anyone have any tips for me? Is it just tough love and they will get the hang of it or what? I really am concerned about drowning the things and they've all made it through what is probably the hardest part.

Thoughts?

GE

Gord, Ive gone through the same feelings you have about getting newts to become aquatic. I to have broken down and placed the new 'swimmer' back on land One method that seems to work for my C.e.p's is to start off with lots of plastic plants and floating stuff in the corners of the tank with one big turtle dock in the middle. I then place lots of java moss around the floating bits to act like a carpet just in case. I start off with just a little bit of water (about 2inches in depth) and every week I add a little bit more. I recently got 5 C.e.p's from Jen and I only have 1 hold out who only hangs out on the turtle dock all day. He/she needs to be hand fed three times a week since he/she doesnt like to eat underwater like the rest of the group. Hope this helps you out and if you would like some pics of my setup send me a pm

Getting a terrestrial morph to go aquatic is likely to take days or weeks. It takes time for their skin to change from the terrestrial form to the aquatic form.

In the case of P. caudopunctatus, I don't know if this transition is even possible at that age. Do you know from other people keeping morphs of the same species/age that it's possible? I am interested to know, as I have 4 juvs of this species that morphed last summer. So far, I'm just keeping them terrestrial, I hadn't thought about getting them aquatic. They are slow-growers, indeed.

Jen:

There is an old thread in the firebelly section about getting caudo aquatic at a young age.

Also..on living underworld there are pics of very small caudo in the water.So it looks like they can go aquatic when small, but I'm sure it requires much patience and some faith.

GE