Tylototriton verrucosus

[Cliygh and Mia]

I don't typically like crocodile newts much, but those are adorable!

 

[Chinadog]

Neither did I until I saw some, they do kinda grow on you though and are much better to watch than the telly.

 

[codyj]

Beautiful creatures, I have axolotl's myself but the newts look very intriguing!

 

[Chinadog]

These Tylos behave like Axolotls, they're big, daft, docile things most of the time, then at feeding time they will snap at anything within range. Animal, vegetable or mineral, nothing is safe from attack until I shove a worm into their mouths!

 

[Chinadog]

Haven't updated for a while, so here's a few pics of the larvae I'm raising. I'm hoping add another pair to my colony of adults if I can stop them from eating each other! I don't know why they are so cannibalistic, they have a constant supply of Daphnia, Slaters and chopped worms, but still stalk and attack their siblings, at this rate I'll probably just end up with one huge fat morph in the end! :/ :/

 

[bellabelloo]

Oh the joys (trauma) of being an owner of these lovelies
I like to take my time feeding my animals, but with these, it is a case of dump food and run. I prepare chopped worms, I hand feed any that are lurking near the surface and then spread the rest throughout the tank.... and run. An hour or so later I will go and look and check for casualties. So far only one has received an injury that has required treatment.
With regards to eggs, these all go to outdoor tubs. They have lots of live food and the strongest survive. I now wonder if this is why my home raised newt are so aggressive .

 

[Chinadog]

Oh the joys (trauma) of being an owner of these lovelies
I like to take my time feeding my animals, but with these, it is a case of dump food and run. I prepare chopped worms, I hand feed any that are lurking near the surface and then spread the rest throughout the tank.... and run. An hour or so later I will go and look and check for casualties. So far only one has received an injury that has required treatment.
With regards to eggs, these all go to outdoor tubs. They have lots of live food and the strongest survive. I now wonder if this is why my home raised newt are so aggressive .

Lol, you're creating a master race of killer Tylos!

 

[Chinadog]

I thought I'd update with some recent snaps, they have been looking especially dismal/annoyed lately. I think it must mean they're healthy. 8) 8)

 

[mr cyclone]

I think they get annoyed I you don't interact with em so much , I think you should feed em a couple fat lobs n cheer em up

 

[xxianxx]

They are always happy to see you if you bring food lol

 

[SnotOtter]

Awesome development thread. Cant get enough of watching the changes these guys go through. Love your plant usage, so underutilized by alot of people imo. Got me smiling.

 

[Chinadog]

The group of larvae I'm raising are really thriving, they have constant access to bloodworm, and other creepy crawlies out of the koi pool filter so they've really come on in size, although they bit the ends of each other's tails off early on, so infinite amounts of food is just not enough for these snappy little things!
In contrast to them, there are two larvae fending for themselves in with the adults. they're about the same length as the others, but they're much more slender and skittish. Amazingly, given their monstrous appetites, the adults completely ignore them, even when they are right under their noses!
The first pic is one that lives with the adults and the rest are the spoilt, greedy ones.

 

[SnotOtter]

Amazing! Got to say I'm kind of surprised the babies dont get eaten, thats some useful information. They are some glutinous little monsters. Awesome pics man. Appreciate the update, keep em coming.

 

[mr cyclone]

I have the same ,got mondter larvae ive not fed that are growing with the adults,must be eating scraps and other hatchlings

 

[xxianxx]

I regularly find stray larvae in with their parents, who live in a heavily planted, high water vol, low maintenance tank with an abundance of small bugs, they seem to do very well in there. The parents seem to ignore them though the larvae are very shy and steer clear of them, the adults make no attempt to hunt them down, presumably because they are lazy hunters who prefer worms being dropped on them . It wouldn't surprise me to see parents predating on larvae who swim in front of them but I have not witnessed this and it would explain the larvae behavour, unless it's a built in anti predator response.

 

[Chinadog]

My adults seem to have an aversion to the larvae and just don't identify them as food. I've seen the exact same behaviour with my adult pyrrhos, they will actively seek out and consume as many of their own eggs as they can, but any that hatch are either completely ignored or avoided.
The apuanus Alpines on the other hand will eat eggs and larvae right up until they are too big to swallow! Maybe its an Asian thing.

 

[dutch guy]

My adults seem to have an aversion to the larvae and just don't identify them as food. I've seen the exact same behaviour with my adult pyrrhos, they will actively seek out and consume as many of their own eggs as they can, but any that hatch are either completely ignored or avoided.
The apuanus Alpines on the other hand will eat eggs and larvae right up until they are too big to swallow! Maybe its an Asian thing.

We have the same experience with the T. Shanjing, at the moment there are still aprox 6 larvae in the adult thank the largest one is 8 cm and still have gills.
The smallest are about 2 cm.


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[SnotOtter]

Thats so cool. Thats a pretty complex recognition process. I'd expect to see that with species that provide parental care or guarding of eggs, but thats more common with terrestrial adults I think. I wonder if it has anything to do with how well they disperse in the wild. Maybe in smaller pool and pond species it is more important to avoid eating young because it could have a higher impact on success of young but with stream or large lake species predation on young would be more common because the infrequency of finding young would be less detrimental in the grand scheme of success. Wonder if with the adults, its species selective or just all "mudpuppies" in general are avoided or eaten? Okay, going to stop my babbling. Thanks for the food for thought!

Sorry, easily amazed here I guess.

 

[Chinadog]

Thats so cool. Thats a pretty complex recognition process. I'd expect to see that with species that provide parental care or guarding of eggs, but thats more common with terrestrial adults I think. I wonder if it has anything to do with how well they disperse in the wild. Maybe in smaller pool and pond species it is more important to avoid eating young because it could have a higher impact on success of young but with stream or large lake species predation on young would be more common because the infrequency of finding young would be less detrimental in the grand scheme of success. Wonder if with the adults, its species selective or just all "mudpuppies" in general are avoided or eaten? Okay, going to stop my babbling. Thanks for the food for thought!

Sorry, easily amazed here I guess.

Could be something along those lines, I've thought in that ballpark as well.
Although most T. verrucosus will usually live aquatically throughout the year in captivity, in the wild they would have left the water and dispersed along the forest floor and their habits and personality would have adapted accordingly so their instinctive behaviour at the moment might not be entirely natural? Given the choice they will eat worms upon worms until they throw them back up!, that's never normal! ?

 

[SnotOtter]

Could be something along those lines, I've thought in that ballpark as well.
Although most T. verrucosus will usually live aquatically throughout the year in captivity, in the wild they would have left the water and dispersed along the forest floor and their habits and personality would have adapted accordingly so their instinctive behaviour at the moment might not be entirely natural? Given the choice they will eat worms upon worms until they throw them back up!, that's never normal! ?

Gotcha, that makes it even more intriguing! I was thinking they were primarily aquatic and occasionalyl terrestrial in the wild. I'm not brushed up on my asian newt natural history, (except echinotriton), thats for sure. How often in the wild do you think they'd have access to an endless supply of earthworms? I'd guess rarely to never, so maybe what happens in captivity is natural!