How soon can young Alpine Newts be kept aquatically?

[HeckYeck]

I am very interested in getting a group of alpine newts but wouldn't like to deal with the terrestrial stage that much. A pet store near me has a bunch of 1" long or so babies and I was wondering if I were to get a few how long should I expect it to take before they can be kept aquatically? Thank you so much for any help!

 

[Herpin Man]

I keep them aquatic throughout their life. Is the pet store keeping them terrestrially?
If so, my advice would be to set them up in shallow water, with lots of aquatic vegetation and some cork bark to rest on. Gradually add water until the desired depth has been reached.

 

[CWhit]

I raised mine from eggs & none have left the water for more than 10 minutes. They have plenty of islands & plants sticking out of the water, but rarely use them.

 

[HeckYeck]

Thanks! Yeah they're keeping them terrestrially right now, but I think I will give it a try getting them to go aquatic again!

 

[HeckYeck]

Got 4 and put them in a setup with about half an inch of water and some land and they all within an hour got into the water and haven't come out since so I guess I'll have no problems with keeping them aquatically! Thanks for the help guys!

 

[CWhit]

Got 4 and put them in a setup with about half an inch of water and some land and they all within an hour got into the water and haven't come out since so I guess I'll have no problems with keeping them aquatically! Thanks for the help guys!

Great news!

 

[Captive Bread]

I keep them aquatic throughout their life. Is the pet store keeping them terrestrially?
If so, my advice would be to set them up in shallow water, with lots of aquatic vegetation and some cork bark to rest on. Gradually add water until the desired depth has been reached.

I am looking to get some alpines in the distant future and have the same concern that HeckYeck once did. Getting them into the water sounds very approachable, but keeping them there is a concern of mine. Is there anyway to (safely) force them to remain aquatic? Is there a temperature I can keep the water at, a dieting trick, or lighting trick to keep them from going terrestrial?

If I were to get some, I would want them to be aquatic year round, as I would have to move mountains to make the aquarium go from aquatic to terrestrial. Nature has her own intentions though. I have searched this website and some people made it sound as though the newts will just spontaneously become terrestrial. They also state that the Italian subspecies is far more partial to staying in the water. Have you personally run into any issues?

 

[Herpin Man]

I am looking to get some alpines in the distant future and have the same concern that HeckYeck once did. Getting them into the water sounds very approachable, but keeping them there is a concern of mine. Is there anyway to (safely) force them to remain aquatic? Is there a temperature I can keep the water at, a dieting trick, or lighting trick to keep them from going terrestrial?

If I were to get some, I would want them to be aquatic year round, as I would have to move mountains to make the aquarium go from aquatic to terrestrial. Nature has her own intentions though. I have searched this website and some people made it sound as though the newts will just spontaneously become terrestrial. They also state that the Italian subspecies is far more partial to staying in the water. Have you personally run into any issues?

In my experience, when the larva first morph, they will climb up on the cork bark floats that I provide, and some will even climb the glass. A tight fitting lid is imperative.
After a few weeks they settle down, and resume their aquatic existence. So I guess the trick to keeping them aquatic is to not give them land. Lots of vegetation and small float should be provided for them to rest on, if desired.
While it depends on who you get your newts from, it’s likely that they won’t have been kept terrestrially prior to your receiving them, so there’s really no adjustment to be made.

 

[HeckYeck]

I am looking to get some alpines in the distant future and have the same concern that HeckYeck once did. Getting them into the water sounds very approachable, but keeping them there is a concern of mine. Is there anyway to (safely) force them to remain aquatic? Is there a temperature I can keep the water at, a dieting trick, or lighting trick to keep them from going terrestrial?

If I were to get some, I would want them to be aquatic year round, as I would have to move mountains to make the aquarium go from aquatic to terrestrial. Nature has her own intentions though. I have searched this website and some people made it sound as though the newts will just spontaneously become terrestrial. They also state that the Italian subspecies is far more partial to staying in the water. Have you personally run into any issues?

I can't speak for the long term but so far mine only very occasionally go out of the water and spend 90% of the time underwater! It seems like as long as you give them some cork or something to climb out on occasionally they should be all good.

 

[CWhit]

They go where the food is - if the food is in the water, that's where they'll stay. I have floating plants & suction plant pots with the soil just above the waterline but they prefer the water. They sleep underwater (as far as I can tell, they don't move for hours). I was worried too, and had a terrestrial tank ready to go just in case but never needed it.

 

[BigMamaSlama]

Hi im new here but earlier this year i caught some wild alpine newts in the uk, i took them back into my garden (very near where i found them both) and setup a tank for them to chill in my garden as my parents have a strict no animals thing, so i just left the lid off and would do water changes once a week until both vanished from their enclosure so i just left the tank to fill with rain water and left the plants to thrive.

now today i was in the garden with my dog and i noticed 3 little black somethings sticking to the glass (i have no idea how pond snails made their way in there) but yeah as i approached i noticed 2 tiny newts chilling on a pile of weeds in the tank (its mostly filled with water with a small island from fish decor) they just barely had any feather gills and both sets of legs are in, they look really marbled and one had a distinct yellowish line down its back

so here i am hours later typing this, of course i wanna keep them as i did accidentally raise them to this point so now i have some questions , have i created an artifical pond ? how have they survived since april? whats the best way to keep alpine newt efts? how did they eat ? what subspecies will it be if its found in the uk ? im really confused and overjoyed about all this