Bioactive Vivarium Eastern Newts

[SirIsaacNEWTon]

Hello all!
I’m looking into starting a bioactive vivarium that supports a few eastern newts. What should I look out for with these guys? Will they fight if I have multiple in the same tank? I’m planning on having them in the Eft phase and seeing them through to maturity (of course changing their enclosure once they become aquatic). Do they need a varied diet and vitamins, or will some earthworms eating local soil work well enough? I’ve heard I might need to chop the worms up especially for younger efts. Would they enjoy a small pool area to have water available when they want it? Would they prefer hiding under bark or dry leaves? Is it a hazard to have something they might fall off of like a waterfall? Thanks!
(Not my picture btw, just to show how stunning the littles guys are)

 

[minorhero]

Assuming you do get them in the terrestrial phase, a water dish is far easier to put into a tank then a water section that won't see much if any use until they get to adulthood so my advice is to not waste real estate on anything more then that. They will definitely appreciate leaf litter and logs they can hide under which they will do most of the time. If feeding earth worms you don't need to do anything else. If you switch to feeding less nutritious foods like fruit flies then you will need to dust them with amphibian friendly vitamins.

Your biggest issue is keeping them cool enough. They need to be kept in the 60s to the lower 70s at most. Any hotter and they can straight up die on you. This is far easier as fully aquatic adults then terrestrial efts, so you might want to just get adults instead. They can climb glass (not well but well enough to escape) so make sure you have a lid that goes all the way around. It can be open in the middle as they can't go upside down. Hopefully this is helpful. Good luck.