Smooth newts (Lissotriton vulgaris vulgaris)

Molch · Jul 12, 2011

I embarked on a new adventure: got 5 smooth newt morphs from Michael Shrom. They arrived today, healthy and sound. They are beautiful, delicate little creatures. They look exactly the way I remember them from finding them under rocks and roots at the edge of ponds when I was a kid

Here are a few quick pics of their setup and the newts.

I have them in an exoterra breeding box (lid removed for pic). There's a substrate of organic soil mixed with coir and seeded with springtails and whiteworms and other tiny bugs that came from the soil. I also put in some wingless fruit flies. Also, some willow leaf litter, a piece of corkbark, and some fresh moss from the tundra. I'll feed chopped worms in the petri dish.

These are a good size (2 inches) and I hope I'll do right by them and won't screw it up. If anyone has some hearty bits of advice on what to do or not to do with these morphs, please feel free to post, and chew me out if you see me doing anything wrong

FRANCOIS · Jul 13, 2011

Great pics, great newts! I think your set-up is perfect for now!

Mark · Jul 13, 2011

Looks like a perfect set-up for juvenile smooth newts. 2 inches is pretty large for juveniles of this species so they should be quite robust by now.

I had a pleasant surprise last night when I visited a local pond which had suffered from years of neglect. I was fearing the pond would have disappeared altogether but some kind souls had restored it to it's former glory and it was chock full of smooth newts - males furiously fanning fat females in the evening sunlight. Such a great sight!

Azhael · Jul 13, 2011

Aaaaawwwwww lovely

I think this species is simply amazing, everything about them screams "forest" to me, and that just makes me happy.
You´re lucky to have gotten such grown on juveniles...morphs are so tiny they automatically infect you with despair when you see them.
Good luck with them, and enjoy the nostalgic feeling (it feels so good, doesn´t it?)!

My only advice is to get them to accept hand-feeding if you can. It will come in handy if they decide to be picky about certain foods all of a sudden.

frogman · Jul 13, 2011

Those are impressive animals. Good luck!!!

Molch · Jul 13, 2011

thanks all!
I will definitely attempt to teach them hand-feeding.

In the meantime, what else can I do to make sure they eat well and lots? How do the rest of you feed small terrestrial juveniles?

do you simply seed their container with lots of live food and assume they will hunt it down themselves? How can I get them to learn to go to the petri dish to find chopped blackworms and earthworms there?

the temp in my newts room is 58 F at the moment and can get as high as 65. I assume that's right on for those guys, or is it?

see, I'm already worrying (it's my nature), even though they look pretty strong

Azhael · Jul 13, 2011

They are very capable of hunting springtails, tiny isopods, flightless fruitflies and the like, it shouldn´t be a problem. Mind you, seeding alone, won´t work, you´ll have to add more of those foods regularly. When i feed springtails i dump loaaaaads of them in. In a forest-type set-up like yours, it´s even more important that they are really abundant, since they´ll hide in unaccesible places if they can.
As for getting them to eat from a dish, just offer food all the time, they´ll eventually realize it´s there and accept it. You can even train them to take frozen bloodworms by themselves.

The temps sound fine.
Don´t stress yourself too much xD (as if that works....i should know, i´m a worrier too).

Molch · Jul 13, 2011

thanks Az - I will make sure to keep food levels on high in their box.

Azhael said:
Aaaaawwwwww lovely
I think this species is simply amazing, everything about them screams "forest" to me, and that just makes me happy.

bwaahaa, not to destroy your pleasant moment, but where I grew up, smooth newts were breeding all over the place - including the seedy water fountain in one of the parks in our town.

I remember once I went there while taking an hour off from school and as I looked into the water past some chunks of pizza or whatever that probably came out of the stomach of a drunk person, I saw 2 smooth newts blissfully courting away at the bottom.

hmm..do you think these morphs will eat pre-chewed pizza ??

Azhael · Jul 13, 2011

I don´t know, but if it were barbacoa i probably would in their place

I know they don´t exist solely in untouched, wooded areas, but that doesn´t matter, in my head it´s all beautiful, dark, moist forests, with pristine ponds full of gorgeous newts and the forest floor crawling with tiny juveniles. Dreaming is so cheap....

I´m always saying this, but it´s a sad thruth, this species is so unfairly underapreciated! I find them incredibly beautiful. One of my males shed yesterday and even when he is terrestrial his colors are unabelievably complex and amazing.

Molch · Jul 13, 2011

I agree about their beauty. I also really love helveticus, and those are even less appreciated

btw, I just got 3 of the 5 to take whiteworms from the tip of my tweezers

I guess we're off to a good start.

Molch · Jul 16, 2011

The care sheet on salamanderland (in German) says that this species is somewhat cold-sensitive and should not be kept below 18 C in the terrestrial phase. Now that would surprise me considering they go much further north than most European amphibians....

anyone have any experience/ insight on this ?

michael · Jul 16, 2011

I've had L. v. ampelensis that cold in my basement in winter. Hand feeding is o.k. but something I never do. They should easily find the food without being spoiled.

Molch · Jul 17, 2011

lol - they won't be too spoiled, Mama will see to that

I've observed them and they come out and go hunting in the evening. So far, they seem to be getting their own groceries. Here some quick snapshots of the kids:

hunting fruit flies at on top of the moss mountain - can you spot the newt?

molch-albums-smooth-newts-lissotriton-vulgaris-vulgaris-picture17018-img-6491.jpg

stalking white worms

molch-albums-smooth-newts-lissotriton-vulgaris-vulgaris-picture17016-img-6496.jpg

let's see if we can get outta here!

molch-albums-smooth-newts-lissotriton-vulgaris-vulgaris-picture17017-img-6517.jpg

after-dinner nap

molch-albums-smooth-newts-lissotriton-vulgaris-vulgaris-picture17015-img-6515.jpg

caleb · Jul 18, 2011

Molch said:
The care sheet on salamanderland (in German) says that this species is somewhat cold-sensitive and should not be kept below 18 C in the terrestrial phase. Now that would surprise me considering they go much further north than most European amphibians....

anyone have any experience/ insight on this ?

My German's not great, so I'm not 100% sure what they're trying to say there.

As the vast majority of (adult and juvenile) smooth newts in northern Europe will overwinter terrestrially, they are clearly able to survive low temperatures when out of water. I personally prefer lowish temperatures (I try not to go over 20C) for terrestrial newts, as it's easier to maintain moisture levels.

Mark · Jul 18, 2011

The info on that care sheet is questionable. It says the preferred temperature range is 24C which is a limiting factor in the spread of populations (...after stating it is found in Scandinavia?!). I could be translating it incorrectly.

Perhaps it was written by someone from a warm Mediterranean country who thinks vulgaris struggle at cool temperatures. Terrestrial juveniles are often out and about at temperatures close to freezing here in the UK.

It's rumoured that the temperature in the UK sometimes creeps up to 24C but I've never seen it.

rethgar · Jul 18, 2011

The Northern range for them is Norway, some of Sweden (roughly 3/4 of it) and Southern Finland. In the UK they go right up into the far north of Scotland, so colder climes are not too much of a problem really. As for habitat they're a lowland species in the main but present in a wide variety of habitats grassland, woodland, hedges ditches, gardens etc. ( in th eUK at least).

If you intend to provide any kind of breeding habitat (obviously a little bit down the line) make sure it's round neutral pH towards the slightly alkaline.

Molch · Jul 18, 2011

thanks all; I was doubtful of that information too. After all, this is the nominate ssp, not a southern one.

my newts room is between 58 and 65 F, depending on outside weather

I do hope to breed them someday when they've grown up. My pH is 7.6, so that should suit them fine.
Thanks!

Azhael · Jul 18, 2011

Mark said:
Perhaps it was written by someone from a warm Mediterranean country who thinks vulgaris struggle at cool temperatures.

Ah, sure, blame the crazy people that live 20 miles from the sun for half the year....

Molch · Nov 12, 2011

an update on these guys: had them 4 months now and they have probably doubled in bulk. The 4 older ones are clearly sexable and there are 3 males and 1 female.

They continue to live in their forest floor setup and eat white worms, several spp of isopods, and dusted fruit flies. They have been very low maintenance. All I do is spray every now and then to maintain moisture, make sure there's enough feeders in their box, and once a week or so fluff up the substrate and visually inspect everybody.

here is 3 of them (2 darker males and a female) I found hanging out under a piece of bark

molch-albums-smooth-newts-lissotriton-vulgaris-vulgaris-picture19033-nov-11-ca-1-year-old-2-males-1-female.jpg

ed_moyer · Nov 12, 2011

It's time to start thinking about a water set up!!

Smooth newts (Lissotriton vulgaris vulgaris)

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