Eastern Newt question

J

jason

Guest
Okay, so I want a newt of some kind, and the only species that I have been able to find commercially is the Eastern Newt. They shop I went to only had the Red Eft stage, and the fella at the shop tells me that they're difficult to care for in this stage. Is this true? How difficult are they to care for? Will a 5 gallon terrarium house an individual (I plan to buy a 20 gallon tank and more individuals later)? How should I set up the tank?
 
The difficulty with an eft is that it needs small live food. The usual "small" sized crickets are probably too large for it. It would be fine in a 5-gal terrarium, but food is the problem. Also, eastern newts are prone to mysterious death - you may be lucky and have it for years, or unlucky and it dies.

Your profile says you are a breeder (of something). So perhaps you would see the value in finding a captive bred newt. Keep an eye on the for-sale area of this forum.

If you do go with a wild-caught animal, you will get a healthier animal, and be more eco-friendly, if you take a newt from an abundant wild population. I believe there are eastern newts in SC.
 
In the event that I do come across a wild-caught animal (or buy a captive bred one), what types of food will be suitable for the eft? Flightless Fruit Flies?
 
I give termites to my southern redbacks and southern two-lineds to eat. They are a healthy choice to but i get them out of rotten logs and few petstores sell them.
 
Flightless fruit flies are good, be sure to dust them with vit/min powder. The ideal situation is to train the eft to feed from tweezers - in that case, you can use better foods, such as chopped worm and frozen(thawed) bloodworm. And as Cameron points out, you can harvest various small insects outdoors.
 
That's what I was thinking. I've had to harvest and use termites once in the past. A buddy of mine had a Mediterranean Gecko she couldn't take care of, and they're tiny...therefor I had to use the flies and termites...Thanks guys!

BTW, what kind of set-up am I looking for? Woodland I assume? Can you give some advice for the setup?
 
Umm...can anyone tell me what kind of set-up I need to care for a Red Eft? Advice please...
 
A semi-terrestrial setup because it will eventually become an aquatic adult and then you must move it into an aquatic setup.

Semi-aquatic as eft and aquatic as adult.
wink.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
     +1
    Unlike
  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
     +1
    Unlike
  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
     +1
    Unlike
  • sera:
    @Clareclare,
     +1
    Unlike
    sera: @Clareclare, +1
    Back
    Top