Newt setup NEED IDEAS (N.V.V.)

[wyatt]

i have 12 Notophalmus v.v.(Sp.) half male half female. i was wondering if you have any setup ideas for them. i have a little chinese firebelly and was wondering if i could incorporate him into the tank. if you have any suggestion for these species include them in your posts. any breeding or hibernation advice would be appreciated.i was wondering if i have to hibernate them to breed them. also, do you think a nvv could survive in an outdoor pond during winter.

 

[kaysie]

12 is a lot. Did you collect them yourself? I'd suggest putting half of them back. No, you cannot incorporate the firebelly in with the N.v. If your animals are adults, you can use a semiaquatic setup (http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups2.shtml), but if they're efts, you will need a fully terrestrial setup.

 

[wyatt]

i don't want to put all of them in the 20 gallon aquarium. only as much as i can put in there without being crowded. some of the extras can go in my pond (if they can survive). the extras i am going to release.

 

[kaysie]

If you collected them, put half of them back. 6 will live more than comfortably in a 20 gal, 12 will not. Letting them go in the pond is a bad idea, unless you collected them in your pond. I assume your pond has fish (usually goldfish), and fish + newts = bad idea. Just release the ones that you dont want to keep.

You never did answer if they were efts or adults. a good caresheet can be found at http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Notophthalmus/N_viridescens.shtml

 

[wyatt]

They are adults. sorry last night i had a hard time getting the post to work and must have overlooked their age. do you know anything about breeing them. do i have to hibernate them to breed them. any tips on hibernation.

(Message edited by mrnewt71 on September 30, 2004)

 

[benjamin]

Basically all newts need some sort of hibernation. Whether it means taking them out of their tank and putting them in a leaf filled container, or simply lowering the water temperature for a month or two. I don't know what the requirements are for notopthalmus.

 

[wyatt]

i have hibernation questions. i have two ideas for lowering the temperature. if i put a layer of ice cubes over the water and leave a small opening(like ice on a pond) would that work? or could i just put the aquarium outside?

 

[joseph]

Putting the aquarium outside would be the best option-unless you like to live in an icebox. In a toasty winterized home, icecubes would be a pain.

 

[kaysie]

Yeah unless you live in a place like michigan. Your tank would freeze solid. In the wild, newts dont stay in the water over winter. They go hibernate in the woods. I suggest putting them in the basement or an unheated room, but where it does not get down to freezing. However, I've never hibernated any of my animals, so you'll have to keep asking. Frankly, I think you should learn how to keep them (you have to ask for a caresheet, and dont know how many you can keep in an aquarium) before you begin to think about breeding them. What do you plan on doing with the offspring? Are you prepared to raise the 200+ larvae? What about when they morph? Do you have enough space to raise all the efts?

(Message edited by kaysie on October 01, 2004)

 

[edward]

I would comment that hibernation is not necessary.

Ed

 

[wyatt]

i never asked for a caresheet. i only asked about how many i could put in there because i wanted to be sure(i knew it was six, but wanted to make sure). to let you know i raised 2 turtles from hatchlings and they're fine(except for some bump that suddenly appeared on the arm, that i am going to post in a turtle forum). I am sorry, but i thought someone elsewhere(on this site) said that you could get rid of eggs you don't want. i don't want to make enemies, but don't treat me like a novice in herptile keeping.

 

[kaysie]

You cant just breed animals and then unload the eggs. A lot of times people dont buy animals that you put up for sale. Its the same as a dog. You dont breed a dog just for the sake of breeding it and shrug it off saying, "I'll just get rid of the puppies". I'm not treating you as a 'novice'. I'm saying you should probably think through the decision a little better. If you KNEW it was six, why did you ask if you could put 12 in? And if you're 'not a novice', why do you think you could put in C.orientalis with N.v.? I'm just pointing out the big picture.

 

[wyatt]

"frankly", i KNEW that i couldn't put the firebelly in WITH the N.V. I was wondering if i could make a smaller enclosure that would fit into the top of the aquarium. or one that would fit over. to make feeding every single animal easier.