Help identifying a newt!

[shawn]

hi i just purchased a newt today and cant seem to identify it. i will have a picture of it tommarow since its late and the tank lights have already cycled off but let me describe it the best i can for now.
it is long approximately 6 inches about 3x the size of my adult eastern spotted newts.
when it feeds i fed it some blackworms and a nightcrawler it fed and did a similar deathroll that a crocodile or alligator would do. it has the firebelly markings but has 3 noticable ridges on its back. its a very dark brown or black cant really tell no coloration on its tail kindof paddle sized but not quite. has a wide narrow head with larger sized mouth. it has shown a little aggression but i think it was because of hunger i dont think the petstore fed him in about 2 days. hes a little on the lethargic side not sick lethargic but a lazy lethargic, when picked up he tries to act dead or stiff. anyone with pictures of something that fits this description would help identify it until i can get some pictures up.
Thanks in advance for any help
p.s if you can identify it and have some info on it like care sheets and such it would be much appreciated
Wolfie

 

[jennifer]

Go to:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Salamandridae.shtml
Look at the photos under "Paramesotriton" (warty newts).

 

[shawn]

It looks alot like the Spotted tail warty newt the bottom left picture to be exact but it still doesnt look the same

but then again its kinda hard to tell from the view of the picture. but with that in mind is there any other species i should look at or is it possible i have a "new species" i doubt it but wishfull thinking

thanks again for your time
Wolfie

 

[shawn]

Actually looking at the newt today and looking at the pictures i believe ive come to the conclusion of it being the "hong kong warty newt" thank you jennewt for the help

you dont happen to have any information on this breed do you.?
Wolfie

 

[shawn]

As promised pictures of my tank you can see some of the newts heres the link with the pictures.
http://www.expert-hosting.biz/newts
feedback is always appreciated.
the newts you can see if you look closely the first pic is the Paramesotriton hongkongensis kinda bad pic as he was loungin on some plants half out of the water
also you will see a juvie fire belly newt some fire belly toads, if you look closely on the "iguana plant" you will see 3 eastern red spotted newts that love to hang out on it mostly trying to hide until dinner time of course. sorry if the pictures arent the best the digital camera im using isnt all that great for this type of photagraphy
Wolfie

 

[jesper]

Carnage warning.

 

[shawn]

define lol although i think your saying newts and fbt = bad mix as ive been told and reading the same but havent had any probs goin on 3 months now well 1 prob in the begining when i first got one of the fbt's it did attack one of my ersp's but i believe it was out of hunger and he hasnt done it since.
Wolfie

 

[jennifer]

Shawn - the warty is likely to become more aggressive as it gets settled. When it kills one of the frogs or eastern newts, please write to us with full details so we can add it to our page:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml
(This is intended as black humor. I'd much prefer that you separate them before this happens.)

 

[shawn]

I think as with the fbt's i wont really have a problem but who knows they have a mind of their own lol my strategy is basically just to keep them well fed so they dont get aggressive right now the warty eats approx 1/2-3/4 of a full size nightcrawler and a few nibbles of blackworms and he seems content, i do however think the petstore didnt feed him enough because i got him yesterday and he was very docile and very thin looking hes still fairly thin looking but hopefully if he keeps up his diet of nightcrawlers and blackworms he will begin to fill in a bit more and hopefully become a little less lethargic acting. and if in the event once he is nursed back to proper nutrition and size if he becomes aggressive to my others then he will be up for sale lol.
And btw black humor is always welcome and fun lol cant have a good day without a good laugh
Wolfie

 

[kaysie]

Up for sale? In my opinion, you should have researched this animal before buying it and been able to provide the correct environment.

After having him for one day, how can you make judgement on whether or not it will be agressive in the new set up?

 

[shawn]

oh im not judging him after one day, im just stating if over time once nursed back to health since he came from the petstore fairly thin and mal nurished looking if in the event he does become aggressive i may sell him but i doubt he will become agressive since i make sure he and all the other newts and toads are well fed in my tank.
Wolfie

 

[kaysie]

By nature they are aggressive. It isn't always just feeding frenzy behavior when they are aggressive.

 

[joeri]

You should never place an unhealthy or thin looking newt with others. Not even when they are the same species. You must keep new newts in quarantine for several weeks for observation.

Your tank looks nice, but I can see problems heading your way I'm afraid.

Still, for your newts sake, I hope you're right and not the respected forum experts.

 

[shawn]

problems with the tank setup or the species of newts?
Wolfie

 

[joeri]

The newts; for reasons that have been summed up by different people.

- mixing species
- adding unhealthy looking newt (it is nice of you that you wanted to rescue the poor fellow, but you had better given it a separate setup)

You now face possible fights and/or diseases. Neither will benefit your newts.

 

[jennifer]

Pet store newts often arrive carrying diseases. Putting them into a tank with established, healthy newts is like inviting Typhoid Mary to work at the local cafeteria.

 

[shawn]

figured id give an update on the warty he is back to health looking nice and full and i suppose it would be considered weird behavior because over the past 2 days hes been hangin out in my little "coco-hut" with my 2 juvie FBN's which one of them just shed today

and 1 of the FBT's likes to hang out in there. im starting to wonder if the warty has taken to them because hes letting them crawl all over him and hang out right next to him. ive been watching them for about 2 hours now just doing some observations and so far i like what i see

i wonder if amphibians can adapt to others as humans can. well im sure they can but just a thaught to ponder. also i was wondering..the people that have reported problems with mixxing warty's and other smaller sized newts did they have more than 1 warty on each event? cuz im wondering if they become more aggressive in pairs maybe a territorial thing...
Wolfie