Eastern newts!....

Hey guys,

I just purchased 4 eastern newts (2 male 2 female) from a local shop. I wanted to show these attached pics to see if you guys can let me know if my setup is alright because I just found that one of the females has died and I've only had them 2 days... The others seem to be rather active otherwise. Is there any visual implications I can check for in the others?

My setup is a 10 gallon tank with water that has sat out over night to dechlorinate before adding them to it. I've fed them some frozen blood worms and brine shrimp and I assumed they would attack the food but I've only found them nipping at it every so often. I do have a rock outside of the water and have both live and plastic plants. I'm unaware of the actual water temp but it is between 65 to 73 degrees in our home and the basement is a little cooler. I've ran a filter on and off to clean the water a little...

Thanks for the help.

I would have a good read of this :- Caudata Culture Species Entry - Notophthalmus viridescens - Eastern Newt

I would not use a filter, but have lots of live plants and suply small live food.

Did you add dechlorinator to the water or just let it sit out over night? If there are choloramines in your tap water, just letting the water age over night won't remove them you have to add the dechlorinator.

My little guy doesn't attack his bloodworms either, just nibbles now and then. I also use a feeding jar so I can better see how much he has eaten.

I also have a teeny tiny sponge filter in my tank with just enough airflow to barely break the surface tension. Figgy likes to chill on top of the sponge and watch the world go by. His tank also has a ton of plants.

thanks bellaballoo,

I'll give live food a shot! If the one who passed had a virus of some sort do I need to clean the water out of the cage to ensure the others don't contract it?

Thanks smurfrider. I did add a few Tetrafauna Aqausafe droplets to the tank but it may not have been enough... The others seem to be doing better today. I'll keep y'all posted.

Julia,

Thanks for the 2 cents. Where do you recommend getting live food from? I've looked for live black/bloodworms here locally and to no avail....

You may need to get the food by mail.

If your garden is pesticide/ chemical free you could try digging for worms, if you have a compost heap, look for the smaller white worms. Bigger worms can be cut to size.
Also look in ponds etc for small aquatic insects. Try sweeping a fine net through the water.

Have a look at this article, a bit further down may give you some ideas :- Caudata Culture Articles - Microfoods

Awesome I'll have a look and find me some live food online. On a side note, I've noticed that one of my males seems to have red coloration in his joints and extremities. Is this a virus? Or a result of changing from his eft stage or could he be pre-eft and ready to turn? I really couldn't get any info from the petshop I bought them at. I know nothing about their age or what stage of metamorphoses they are in. They are pretty tiny (maybe 2 1/2 inches long) and have no hair/gill things on their heads at all. They have been crawling up on the rock frequently though. Just curious...

I've been feeding my Eastern Newts live earthworms and black worms. I've been able to find them at my local fish store. Soon I'm going to try raising live daphnia or go to a local lake and see about getting some live critters from there. From what I've read earthworms and black worms offer good nutrition for newts. I want to raise the daphnia just to see them chase around some live food in the tank. Plus I'm a firm believer in mixing up the diet as it is healthier and often increases chances of breeding.

If you're having issues finding worms, maybe check out a bait shop or I've seen people on here claim they find earthworms at Walmart as well. Keep in mind if you go with earthworms you'll have to cut them into small bits your newts can fit into their mouths. Also I've had better luck with Canadian Nightcrawlers than Red Wrigglers, my newts did not like the Red Wrigglers.

Caudata Culture Articles - Food Items for Captive Caudates


Not sure about the red markings on your young male, but I did find out that one of my Easterns is an eft and had to put him in a terrarium. He's been doing great so far.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...covering-still-not-going-into-water-much.html

I took a closer look at your newts and some of them look like adults. At least they have a fin tail, take a look at the link I posted above. Herman's tail is skinny and does not look ready for swimming. That would indicate that it is not aquatic yet.

If your newts are all climbing on the rocks, it could also be due to something not right with your water quality. Do you test your water? The presence of ammonia, high nitrites or nitrates could also be causing your newts to not want to be in the water (besides chlorine and chloramines).

With the Aquasafe, I'd make sure you are putting 10ml of it in your tank (adding a little more than is required is okay and won't hurt anything - it is better than not putting enough of it in your tank).

Oh, and another suggestion, it might be a good idea to add more rocks or some other structure so that if your newts do not want to be in the water they have a place to go. Something that is above water like a small island. If there could be a cave for them to hide in that might be even better.

very cool randok. Your advice is much appreciated. I'll probably be adjusting their cage perpetually as setting up the environment is probably my favorite part of all this. Do you have suggestions as to cheap ways to test my waters quality? I've been replacing half the water about every 4 days to this point.

Thanks again for your input. I've attached some more photos. The male on the top photo has been doing a very strange catlike pose the past 15 minutes. Is this some mating ritual? Also, given they are mature enough, when will they begin to mate? What signs indicate they are ready to mate? I have two males and one female and I hope they get to it soon. I have it nice and cool down here in the basement for them as I've read that is best.

Also, I'm new to forums, how do I embed my images into the body of my text instead of having to attach them?

Haha I don't know what he's doing but it's cool. I've seen mine do a mating dance but that's been in the water only.

For water testing, I'd recommend the API Freshwater Master Kit. It's a liquid based kit. Even though it is $15 - $24+ depending where you buy it, it will last for a very long time, and is alot more accurate than using dip strips.

I haven't had my Easterns for very long either. One thing about efts/juveniles that I have learned though is that they can become breeding adults in as early as 2-3 years.

If your males are doing the mating dance, that is an indication. If one of the males has his legs wrapped around the female, then they are in amplexus (doing the deed). Also if your female gets fatter especially near her hind legs (kind of pear-shaped) then that is a sign that she could be carrying eggs (gravid). All I know is from what I've read, haven't experienced it yet, I hope to be able to breed them too.

Oh and check this out for ideas on making islands/shelters:

Caudata Culture Articles - Setups, Semiaquatic

I highly suggest making sure there is some kind of shady cave for them. Especially since you just got them, they are likely stressed (as most new animals are when you first bring them home) and getting used to their new environment.

Looking at your newer pics, it's possible your fighty-cat posing male might still be in the eft/terrestrial stage. If you make a larger above water area for him and he climbs out and doesn't go back into the water, then that could indicate that he may not be an aquatic adult yet.

Oh, and doing 50% water changes every 4 days should be fine. If you plant your tank heavily enough you may not have to do as many water changes.

You may not have to get this fancy, but this is an awesome article on how to do low tech planted tanks:
How to Setup a Low-tech Planted Tank: A Guide for Planted Aquariums | Welcome to Sudeep Mandal's spot on the net

Randok this was exactly what I was looking for! Good work! I'll keep you posted!

Also, my female makes popping noises when she is out of water. is this some type of mating call?

My eastern make those sounds too. I don't think it's part of their mating behavior, I've observed them doing it when gulping for air or when I am handling them.


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Sad news again. Another of my 4 easterns has passed and I've only had them about a week. I've been aging the water and adding a good amount of tetra aqua safe as well as rotating the water and to no avail. The one thing I noticed is that after I fed them live chopped earthworms from the garden about 3 days ago they haven't eaten since. They did eat a TON though....I've attached a photo to see if you guys can help determine the cause of death of my little guy. I do not have the proper equipment to monitor the various levels/temp of the water as I have zero budget to buy them at the moment. Are these tools pricey? Does anyone else have this much difficulty keeping eastern newts healthy? thanks again for the help...

This species can be difficult to keep. I think your tank looks fine and I don't think that's the problem. I think they probably came with something or they were stressed from being caught and however they were transported. They are wc so you don't know what might have been their environment. I'm sorry you lost them. When my newts have died, I've noticed that (many species) their cloaca gets red and swollen like that though not quite as much as the one in your picture. I think that might have something to do with their being dead, that it gets swollen like that. Everything you did and fed them seems OK to me and I hope you have better luck next time.

Thanks for the help Otterwoman. Is there a reputable site for purchasing totally CAPTIVE bread newts anywhere?