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Moss for Cynops Orientalis Setup

J

jon

Guest
Hi everyone
I'm new to this forum and was actually somewhat surprised to see a forum specifically for newts. Anyways I've been researching for the past couple months on taking care of newts and I feel I can move onto the next step. Thats setting up my tank. I have a 15 gallon tank I will be setting up with mostly water and a land area for the newts to swim up on. I have used the store bought moss in the past for my toads I have (will not be in the same tank) but the moss turns brown quite quickly and I would like this setup to be nicer. I found some live moss in the back of my house in the woods and thought it would be perfect. I have not started putting together the setup yet but I just wanted to know if I should take any precautions with the moss (parasites, mold, anything like that). Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks!
 
M

mark

Guest
Ah, hello, and WELCOME! This is a tricky topic, and everyone has a different opinion. But I would say it is bad becuase of the parasites and stuff, but good becuase it will look nice and stuff. If it were me, I would probably say to get the moss and sumberge it for like a minute or so just to get all the large bugs off. If you have any doubt that it might be bad for your newts take it out. I hope I am right, and you might want to some other peoples opinions. What kind of newts do you have? Good luck.
 
J

jon

Guest
Right now I currently do not have any newts. I'm looking into getting 3 Cynops Pyrrhogaster's, or Cynops Orientalis. I'm leaning more towards the C. Pyrrhogaster because i have read they are a bit more hardy and they are a little larger. Currently I'm just looking for a breeder or someone I can get either from! I'm not having a whole lot of luck other than a petstore I can get them from.. But I would prefer not if possible.

As for the moss thats what I was thinking of doing, right now the ground here is completely frozen so I had to use some warm water to loosen it up to get it, so I don't know if the frost would have killed whatever may have lived in it. It doesn't look like anything did, I'm just taking extra precautions.
 

morg

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
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Location
Doncaster England
I have used moss gathered from a local woodland in most of my set ups for years now, and have had no problems.
I gather the moss and submerge it in water for 24hrs before using it.
This gets rid of any large insects, but there are always smaller insects, flies,which appear from the moss sometime after this.
These small insects are great as a food source if used in a set up for tiny,newly morphosed newts.
If regularly sprayed, the moss will stay green and even grow, for around a month before needing replacing.
 
J

jon

Guest
Thanks! I will definitely give it a shot.
happy.gif
 
W

william

Guest
i get moss from the woods and rock piles in my area and i keep it green by spraying it every few days, i don't put it in water, i just check for the dangerous bugs before it goes in, the less harmful ones would make a good snack for a hungry newt
 
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