Question: Where are the fire bellied newts?

[April]

I've got a 20 gallon paludarium all set up and ready to go now but cannot find a supplier of fire bellied newts. I've tried to order from the petstore and tried online vendors. They tell me there is a USDA ban on fire bellied newts right now. Doesn't anyone have captive bred ones?

 

[Sith the turtle]

Gladly, there haven't really been a lot of fire-bellied newts lately. The reason I say this, is because Fire-bellied newts are mass exported from China, and have all sorts of internal and external problems. Unless they were captive bred, (Their relative, C.cyranus makes a good captive, simply because most are CB) they won't really thrive, they'll succumb under the pressures of the stress, improper care at the pet-store, being shipped half-way across the world, and collected from ponds that they and their relatives have lived in for many generations

 

[Sith the turtle]

Here is the care-sheet for the normal Fire-belly (Which I don't recommend): Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

And the Blue-tailed fire-belly newt (Cynops cyranus) that I mentioned earlier: Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops cyanurus