Large larva in adult newts tank?

[Lilibugz]

I’m not 100% sure when my newts last laid eggs but I didn’t keep or raise any but recently I discovered that there are 2 large babies still in their tank! I have a black background and black substrate so the wild type babies really blend in. They’re about 2-3 inches in length, have all 4 legs but still have gills I think they’re too big to get eaten at this point considering they come up and eat with the adults with no fear. They seem to be thriving but I was wondering if I should tub them instead since they are much smaller? I don’t want them to get eaten but I’m not 100% sure that’s even a risk at this point.

 

[minorhero]

What species?

 

[Lilibugz]

What species?

Forgot to add this! They’re Spanish ribbed newts, (pleurodeles waltl)

 

[minorhero]

I have not kept Spanish ribbed newts so I can't be sure. Other newts I've kept would be safe at this point. My gut says you got a 99% chance of everything being fine but I'm honestly not sure since I haven't kept them. If you do decide to separate them, don't tub them, keep them in a cycled tank. You have a much better chance of killing them in an uncycled tank (tub) then just leaving them where they are at. So I would cycle a new tank before separation. They made it months before getting to this point so you can wait a few more weeks to do it proper.

 

[Niels D]

After metamorphosis I've never experienced any cannibalism between adults and juveniles. The small larvae can be eaten by the parents though.

 

[Lilibugz]

After metamorphosis I've never experienced any cannibalism between adults and juveniles. The small larvae can be eaten by the parents though.

I actually just discovered there’s 3! The original 2 I saw both still have gills but they’re both 2.5-3 inches and getting there so I think we may be on the safe side. I’ve started cycling a 10 gal I plan to move them to, mainly just to make it easier to feed them everyday without the adults stealing it all.