My Newt ( Triturus marmoratus )

[merk199]

I have some juvies as well. Fascinating and not intimidated of anything. Reminds me I need to pick up some worms for them. I am guessing they will be in the water arounfd Jan.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Triturus marmoratus.

My juveniles are now around 6cm in length and kept in a container outside. The weather is cooling and the temperatures dropping to approx 6 degrees night time. During the day it rises to approx 16 degrees. Should I move them indoors or will they be happier where they are?

 

[Jennewt]

Re: Triturus marmoratus.

Not an easy question. While temperature fluctuations are "discouraged" in general, the cooler temperatures outside may be better than a constant warmer temperature indoors.

You will eventually have to move them indoors, right? I don't know what your winter weather is like. It may be better to move them indoors now rather than after they get accustomed to even colder temps.

 

[Azhael]

Re: Triturus marmoratus.

Do you have somewhere intermediate to place them? I mean something like a garage, where temps will not be as high as inside the house, but they will be protected from freeze and temp fluctuations will be softened. I think that´s you best bet. Otherwise i´d personally take them inside and put them close to a window.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Re: Triturus marmoratus.

The little guys have grown, I suspect the lovely Jen's method has helped!. Tonight I measured the smallest one and its just over 8cm..I was amazed!
I have two questions . Firstly how often do they need feeding? At the moment they are fed every day chopped earthworms, with live fruit flies as an occasional extra. They look to me like daily feeding is required, if I leave them a day with out worms they look much slimmer. With regards to the fruit flies I noticed something interesting, ( tv is dire at the moment!). I pour in the fruit flies alternate nights. On a few occasions I have seen the newts congregate around the water dish. When I watched them the newts fed of the water bound flies, I have never seen them feed at any other time.
This evening I noticed one may be shedding, this is the first time that I have seen any indication of this. It has what looks like a slight split above its shoulders ( as in a tiny thin layer of skin as opposed to a thick layer). It seems very happy, but being new to all this newt lark I am worrying ,is there anything I should be looking out for or doing while its doing this? They are now on a soil substrate with a shallow dish of water , they have some ground cover plants and a piece of terracotta pot to hide under, the day time temperatures reach 19 degrees and drop to maybe 14. They are now living on one of my window ledges.

 

[Bellabelloo]

T. marmoratus question.

I have just moved my 3 ( morphed a year ago) into a slightly more aquatic tank, they had been visiting their small water bowl more often so I thought now seemed like a good time to do it....and I was inspired by Eva's (evut) set up. I will post some pictures later.
Having examined the three residents, I noticed 2 have become slightly darker , with a small raised crest, does that indicate that these two are male? The other is a much brighter green colour, with a nice orangy stripe still. If indeed this indicates that I have 2 males , then should I consider separating when the breeding season starts?
With regards to feeding them, I still aim to feed them on land their worms. But at some point will I need to feed them in water?
There was another question...but it now escapes me..I will be back!

 

[Azhael]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Well, if they have a raised crest with a banded pattern, then they are male for sure.
The darker coloration is normal when they are becoming aquatic. Some get very dark, others retain a bright coloration although usually not as bright as whe they were terrestrial.

I don´t see any reason to separate them, the males might display, but if the females are not interested, nothing will happen, and females should take a while longer to be ready.

It seems to me that they are becoming fully aquatic, which means you should provide lots of water (preferably heavily planted), and feed them in the water, if going aquatic is what you want for them. They might take the odd stroll on land, but they might also be 100% aquatic for a good while. Always offer some land, though.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

The first three are in their newer tank, I just popped in to see them and they are trundling around busily exploring.
The last 2 where from a disastrous set up , their land area was far too damp. I had used a terracotta tray, which surprise surprise it absorbed water so their land area was very damp. The only dry spot was the pine cone that one of the children insisted on putting in.

 

[Jennewt]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Lookin' good - I remember when they were just babies!

Yes, the ones that are getting a ridge down the back are male. No need to separate during breeding season, they are peaceable. The only injuries I've seen from Triturus are "feeding accidents".

 

[Azhael]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Aaaaah, they are lush!
You´ve done a great job with them. And i fully agree, you have at least two males, no doubt.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Thank you so much for the comments. I am happy that I won't need to separate them, as they seem so peaceful together.

 

[Mac Myers]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Great pictures and great looking animals. Now I have to go learn more about T. marmoratus!

 

[Mark]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Contrary to what Jen has said I have terrible trouble with aggression in my marm group. The females will take chunks out of male's crests and tails during the aquatic phase. If the wounds bleeds the females will stalk the male bullying and biting him. I'm sure if I don't intervene they would eventually kill and eat a male. The males are too dumb to know when to give up and will continue to fan a ragged, bleeding tail in the face of the females. Not a good move .

This year I removed 2 males who were seriously bullied and I wasn't sure they would recover. Fortunately they did. In terrestrial phase they fight over food but rarely damage each other.

 

[Azhael]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

I had some minor aggression, much in the same fashion as Cynops, but nothing more serious than a missing tail tip. It never really worried me.
My T.dobrogicus are much more aggressive than the marmoratus ever were.

I guess the way to go is to just keep an eye on them. If you see any damage, then separate them.

 

[aramcheck]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Two of my males have been missing chunk of tail/crest this year, but nothing as bad as what mark is discribing, I'll have to keep a closer look on them in the future. I did not think this species could get that aggressive, all I have witnessed with my group is some over-enthousiasm at feeding time...

 

[evut]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Hi Julia, great photos!
I think you will appreciate it that they will be able to eat frozen bloodworms once they are aquatic. Their little brother had no trouble learning to hoover them from the floor now that earthworms are scarce.

He seems to change the colour of his belly a lot - it goes from almost black to almost white... does anyone know why this happens?

 

[tmarmoratus]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

For what it's worth, I have never witnessed aggression with my marms, other than the occasional mistakenly bit limb during feeding time.

Your marms look good. Here's to hoping they breed for you! :happy:

 

[Bellabelloo]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Thanks for the feedback.
So far I have never seen signs of any aggression, though the female tends to keep her self tucked away more than the males. I can understand that during the breeding season this might change, though I thought it would be the males that would be cause for concern. I quite like the idea of a grumpy female newt beating up those pesky frisky males I will continue to admire and monitor what goes on.
They still tend to spend most time on the land area. Its been hot here( I hate hot), so I have been fussing about them. Eventually I decided to add a damp towel to the top of their tank, plus an ice pack to the lid to reduce the temperature. On a few occasions I have found a fully submerged newt lurking in their weed . I have now got over the panic of fretting that its drowned.
I tend to feed them alternate days their chopped worms, as they are still spending more time on land, this works well for me and them as they don't seem to feed well if I offer food every day. This weekend I aim to raise the water level for them.
If I get to an aquarium shop in the near future I will get some frozen blood worm, as I have never fed them dead food ,will I need to 'hand' feed this to start with ?

 

[Azhael]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

Yep, just let them thaw and offer with tweezers. Mine ate bloodworms like crazy, they would gobble them up like ducks. Once they get reaaaally used to them and go mental everytime they smell bloodworm you can try serving it on a paper towel. It doesn´t always work, but when it does it´s just great.

Gods, i envy you so much.. I miss my marmoratus terribly..
Prepare for what comes next, breeding males in real life are absolutely expectacular!!

 

[Bellabelloo]

Re: T. marmoratus question.

It has been a week since I introduced the gang to more water. One spends most of his time in the water, one lurks on top of the plants on the water and the one (I suspect is female) rarely goes near the water.
So far I have been feeding them alternate days their earthworms on land, I am hoping that this continues as they are all eating them. I will get some frozen bloodworm next time I venture into the aquarium shop....which is dangerous as I now have two empty tanks .