Terrestrial Newts - Please Help

Hi Friends,

My friend (who has bought the newts for me) says that he feels the newts are terrestrial and not aquatic. Just wanted to know if I can still keep them in my tank that I setup for aquatic newts ? Will terrestrial newts also sometimes venture in to the water or do they have to be kept in a tank with no water ?

Please guide me Friends...
Thanks a lot !
Regards and Care
Kush

Most Newts go through a terrestrial passage as juveniles (roughly for a year or two after metamorphose). Some species can be kept aquatic as adults, while some need to be terrestrial part of the year and only become aquatic for the breeding season. The easiest would be for you to check which species you getting and have a look in Caudata Culture species page.

Once you know a bit more about the need of your animals, you can decide which type of set up they need, once again, Caudata Culture is a treasure trove of information. Check different types of setups here.

your newts won't always be terrestrial.
your friend has most likely purchased juveniles.
when C.orientalis become adult they become mainly aquatic , resting on land for short periods of times.

Try to get your friend to upload some photos of the animals. If possible, next to something we can compare sizes with.

I´d bet my arm the newts are not juveniles. They are most likely adult(they are WC after all) but if they are terrestrial it´s as i told you in another thread, because they are very weak and starved, and because of the stress and neglect suffered at the pet-shop.

We already told you that shipping the newts in such a state is pretty much a death sentence. However if you still decide to get them shipped to you, your tank is not the best option at all. You´d be better off keeping them in a tererstrial set-up such as i described in another of your threads.

Hi Friends,

Thanks a lot for the kind replies and for guiding me. I've asked my friend to send me a few pics asap. I'll upload and show them here as soon as I get them.

Also wanted to mention that I'm not getting them shipped to me now - I'm ready to wait patiently until they fully recover, become active and eat well. I was just asking because I'm a little worried for them.

Thanks again for all the help friends... Will wait for the pics and show them here...
Regards and Care
Kush

My pair was also terrestrial and frail looking when we got them. I'm not sure if I already told you, but they remained terrestrial for many months and getting them to eat was tough - it took over a month for the skinnier male to eat. After I found this site, I realized they were WC and also learned (from the pet store) that they were two of four survivors from the bunch. We were first in to get them, so maybe that helped, but I was also pretty diligent on learning all I could and keeping them cool enough (we're in S. FL so I'm sure many suffered high temps by owners not willing to learn about and provide proper husbandry.)

Anyway, then I began to think they were juveniles, but I'm now raising juveniles (their offspring) and know the original pair was very much bigger than these little morphs and really were full grown. Since they reproduced 11 months later, I'm certain they were just victims of the pet trade and we are lucky they made it. The pet store also told me they'd "never" have babies...

Tell your friend to keep them cool and continue to try to feed them a variety of food.

Good luck. I'm glad you're waiting to ship.

Dana

Tbh i know this completely off your question and i apologise.
but i believe i was quite lucky when i obtained my C.orientalis. As soon as they were put in my tank and had an understanding of the tank, they eat almost straight away... however i have to ask this.
when your friend purchased these newts did he randomly pick them?
what i mean is did he just say ill have that one etc instead of observing the newts for several minutes to check physical aspects and behaviour patterns , as this can really have an impact to the success of keeping newts.

Sorry if this means nothing to your topic

Tom