Ponds

[carl]

i have asked my dad and he has agreed that we can have a pond in the garden but on the site alot of people say they get newts in them i want to no if i would get them in mine because i wouldnt mind some in a pond because i think they are cool and wouldnt mind studying them in the wild anyways i live in the UK on a big estate i was wondering would they come if i got a pond that wouldnt freeze over the winter and if not is there anyway of encourageing them to come like food and so on

 

[jesse]

so long as it doesnt freeze all the way to the bottom and you have lots of plants they will come to the pond, oh and also dont stock it with fish , if youre pond is fishless they will not only come but they will breed there too.

 

[morg]

Carl
If you have newts living wild in the area, then there's a good chance that your new pond will attract newts.
If however there are no newts anywhere near you, all is not lost.
You can do as I had to do, buy eggs from people keeping captive bred native newt species, raise them until advanced larvae, then release in the pond.
Don't forget though that these newts will leave the pond for a life on land,and if they survive will return to the ponds a few years later to breed.

 

[benjamin]

The best thing to do to attract newts to a pond is submerged foliage, and also NO FISH. I'ld say the best time to make a pond is over the winter, and the best place to get plants is in the wild (though in moderation try and collect only small clippings from submerged plants and seeds from marginals). Give the newts lots of choice. Have deep and shallow, light and shady areas and many diffferent types of plant. If you find adult newts on land just at the start of the breeding season and your pond is nice enough if you introduce it to your pond it just might choose to stay, I had great succes with that method this year when I found a female in my basement I introduced her to my pond, she liked it, she bred with a male who was already there, and she laid eggs. Unfortunately I never got to see them develop because I went on vacation just as the first fertile eggs were about to hatch. Once eggs have hatched in your pond it insures the return of animals for years to come unless your pond is destroyed.

 

[carl]

the idea of getting eggs is good but i live in a big estate and when they leave for land they will get killed

 

[benjamin]

How will they get killed, what do you mean by big estate. If it's a big estate in the country with lots of fields and woodlands that's actually better for newts than 95% of other developed areas.

 

[morg]

Carl
I also live in the middle of a housing estate[if thats what you mean?]
If you design your garden with lots of rocks, logpiles,ground cover plants, and maybe a compost heap, then T vulgaris will generally live in the garden out of breeding season.
Any that spread out further will live in nearby gardens.

 

[carl]

ok cheers