Paddletail size

[tony]

I have kept a paddletail for about a year now and was wondering what the average adult size for this species is -- Caudate Central does not have much information on these newts. He (or perhaps she, since I am not sure how to sex them) is now about 17-18 cm long (mostly in his giant tail, of course). He is a voracious eater, feeding mostly on chopped nightcrawlers and live black worms and VERY territorial and curious -- even to the point of storming right up and challenging the gravel vacuum when I change his water!

 

[ian]

Caudate Central does not have any information on these wonderful newts, but the living underworld does. Mine, Tim the Enchanter was so terretorial that he would attack my hand when I first got him, but now he is tame enough that he walks right up to my hand expecting a treat every time I clean his tank! The living underworld says that they get up to 10 inches, but mine is about 7.

http://www.livingunderworld.org/caudata/database/salamandridae/pachytriton/
- a great paddletail caresheet

 

[i.]

Mine is about 7 inches also. Does anyone know how to identify their gender? I would like to get mine a mate but it is hard to do so as I can't tell how to diffirentiate them.

 

[ian]

Males have the usual larger, rounder cloaca, while females's cloacas are flat. Males also have a small white spot near the tip of the tail(I forget the scientific name) when mature. Be careful if you get a mate. These are <u>extremely</u> terretorial newts. The second you put the new one in it will be attacked by your current newt. Your best bet if you want to breed these newts is to get two (or more) new ones in a completely different tank. Paddletails are easy to take care of if you only have one, but once you have multiples things can get hairy. I had two at first for about two months but then Tim decided he didn't like Godzilla, who died of a fungal infection from a bite wound.

 

[i.]

Thanks for the info and the tip, I'll think it through before getting a mate.

 

[tony]

Thanks for the info. Ian, your caresheet is great -- I especially appreciate the food chart.

I can unfortunately second (or third, whatever) the advice about the aggressive and territorial nature of this series. My paddletail was purchased with a companion (they had been mislabelled at the store as chinese firebellies), but he quickly harrassed his tankmate (biting him, eating his food, preventing him from entering the water, and once chasing him out of the tank altogether, a feat I still cannot fathom) until he fell ill and died. I was too late in realizing that they were NOT firebellies and moving the companion to his own space.

Finally, the care sheet says that paddletails are semi-aquatic, but mine has never shown any interest whatsosever in land (in the form of planted space with soil, rocky islands, or floating cork bark -- all of which I have tried) and seems to tolerate somewhat higher temperatures than 65F -- with the A/C I keep their room at about 72F on hot summer days here in Chicago.

 

[i.]

Yes Ian, thank you for the caresheet, and I'm convinced to my little buddy's enduring celibacy now.
Does anyone has experience hibernating them in the winter months? I plan to settle mine at around 45-50F for the winter and wonder if it will affect him like some fish get affected. I had Koi for a while and their digestive system shut down in the fall when the temperature dropped, they didn't eat all winter and started to eat again in the spring when it warmed up.
Anyone knows?
thanks

 

[nate]

Pachytriton will eat just fine over winter, even at 40-50F.

About your questions regarding semi-aquatic vs. aquatic, temperatures, etc...just going to point out here that there is virtually no published info on the ecology/natural history of Pachytriton so without any real data on them, any caresheet on them is at best a collection of educated guesses.