Housing an Oregon Newt

[billie]

Hello. I recently rescued a very large Oregon newt out of the mouth of a very young, small bullfrog..(The frog was part of a control study and the newt was a surprise, the little frog had the newt by back end..).. Newt lost part of tail but is fine..the bullfrog did not survive the newt's toxins. (It would never been able to swallow the newt anyhow)..

Anyhoo.. I decided to hang on to the newt to use for educational displays that I am involved in, but I do not know how I should set the tank up.. It will be a 20 long. I know that adults are mostly aquatic, but I don't know how much land I should give it.

ALSO, I have been offered a couple more of these animals.(Long term captives).. Is it safe to put males together?? It is breeding season here in Oregon, so the hormones are in full gear.. I do not want war of the newts..

Any advice is greatly appreciated...

thanks,

Billie

 

[jeff]

First off, congradulations! Tarichas are in my mind the best and most happy newt to keep.

As far as housing goes, a 20 long is fine. Fill it up about 2/3 with water(dechlorinated of course) and provides plants and other stuff to hide in. live plants are great, but obviosly more work then fake. A land area should be provided ideally, you can use a planting pot filled with gravel that goes up to the surface with a house-like thing on it, mine loved that.

You can house them together, but make sure they have lots of cover.

Check the site out for housing and filtration ideas

 

[s1ren]

This page is about different kinds of tank setups: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups.shtml
You can also check out the photo gallery here at the forum, as well as the photo gallery in the "Vivaria & Equipment" section of the forum.

I keep Tarichas - they're wonderful little critters. I have two in a 40g tank (sheer luxury!) They don't need quite as many hiding places as some other newts seem to; but I can tell you that mine like LOTS of things to climb on.

Lots of folks here have small floating islands, or piles of gravel as land areas for thier newts. Many Tarichas leave the water, as I understand, but mine never have - mine have a piece of driftwood that breaks the water's surface, and every once in a long while they'll climb up and poke thier heads out, but that's all. Give yours the opportunity and see what they end up doing.

As for plants - I don't think live plants are any work at all, but then, I use kind of the Lazy-Woman's Natural Selection method: if it'll grow in my tanks without any help from me, I buy more of it. So far, I have lots of Anubias nana and a couple of short Amazon Swords (not sure what variety). Lots of duckweed, too - that stuff I have to skim out every few weeks because it grows so quickly, but that's hardly any trouble at all.

Hope this helps

 

[ali]

I'm with s1ren, everything except the floating corkbark was just trouble for me. I swear by my floating island! Especially with taricha's...they don't seem to need or want much else. They're always in the water.

 

[joan]

I just bought a floating Turtle Log from zoo med (see one here: http://www.zoomed.com/html/turtle_log.php ) and it's probably the most awesome thing I've ever tried with my Taricha. They LOVE it.

I bought mine from Big-Al's online, and it was a lot cheaper than the store price of $30.

 

[carly]

I have a couple of big stones that I swiped from my family's rock garden strategically placed so that the tops poke out. My guys just pull themselves up so that they're half in, half out and seem to enjoy that. Also some fake plants that just break the surface that they like to chill in.

 

[ali]

Ooh! Joan! I also like the floating turtle docks. Those are cool because they mount to the side, but they also float on the water so contrary to what my mother thinks, the water does NOT have to be at exactly a certain level for it to work.

 

[karen]

I'd just be careful with the turtle dock ....there have been some posters here who have reported that their newts got wedged in the small area between the dock and the tank wall!

 

[pamela]

Tarichas are gregarious (within their own species). They "love" to mate, so don't be surprised if males mount each other. Tarichas can be kept aquatic year round -- as far as long term effects on their breeding behaviour etc. that info will be forthcoming. Enjoy them, they are beautiful creatures, very resilient (but treat them with all due respect as one should any living creature), they even "tame out", and seem to enjoy the attention that you give them (alll though I am sure it is "food" their motivation). I have actually had certain individuals climb out and rest on my hand, or curl up on my fingers anticipating food of course. Ah, we are just servants to our animal friends in the end after all.

 

[john]

Hey Karen, I use the Zoo Med Floating Turtle Dock WITHOUT the black bracket and suction cups so that no newt would get stuck between the dock and the glass. Most of the time, the dock is against the side of the tank, but if a newt tries to squeeze in-between, since the dock is free-floating, it will move away from the glass for them.

And since the dock floats, it will accommodate any water level, too.