Where have all the newts gone?

[macphersoni]

I've been reading the posts about Notophthalmus & Taricha, two species I used to see available for purchase in Ontario frequently, and would love to aquire some cb of either species. Does anyone know why they are available nowhere in Ontario? Both species are legal to own, but they aren't in any store anywhere. If anyone might have some available to ship, I would be forever greatful.

Any suggestions?

 

[Azhael]

If what you want is CB, it´s no use to have them easily available in shops as all petshop animals are WC for sure. Sadly for you, both Taricha and Notophthalmus appear to be very rarely bred in the US, so you might need to be patient and keep an eye on the for sale section.

 

[Jennewt]

If they are no longer available in pet shops, this means that fewer are being collected from the wild and sold into the pet trade. The ones in pet shops are always WC. While I'm slightly sorry that you cannot find any, I am also very, very happy that fewer are ending up in pet shops.

I would suggest a road trip to suitable locations in Canada, where (if it's legal to do so), you could collect a couple. From an eco-perspective, this is actually a lot better than finding them in pet shops.

For CB, I would suggest making contacts with as many other "newt people" as you can in Canada, and maybe you'll find some CB newts sooner or later, but it may take years of contacts.

 

[macphersoni]

Thank you both for your input. I will definitely keep an eye out, and maybe even take a road trip to find some in the spring. Hopefully some will turn up. I too am glad the pet stores are not raiding as many animals from the wild, although it does make finding interesting pets more challenging. Luckily, from what I've read, Notophthalmus are still fairly abundant in the wild, which is great. Let's hope to keep it that way.