Why are Cynops Pyrroghaster so hard to find in the U.S.?

[MarkD]

I've been looking for Cynops Pyrroghaster for over 2 years now, online, craigslist etc. and I came up with just a bunch of orientalis from online when they said they were Cynops Pyrroghaster... Are there any breeders in the U.S. with these available? or can't they ship them over to U.S. anymore?

 

[Jennewt]

At some point, Japan clamped down on exports, so there are very few WC C.pyrrhogaster reaching the US. A few arrive now and then, but they don't show up in pet shops or through the major retailers.

None of the serious breeders are interested in breeding them, for two reasons. One, they are difficult to raise successfully (the metamorphs are terrestrial). Two, they are still considered "common" and thus not worth the effort. When I do have any available, no one is willing to pay the amount that it costs to raise them, so why bother?

 

[Sith the turtle]

At some point, Japan clamped down on exports, so there are very few WC C.pyrrhogaster reaching the US. A few arrive now and then, but they don't show up in pet shops or through the major retailers.

None of the serious breeders are interested in breeding them, for two reasons. One, they are difficult to raise successfully (the metamorphs are terrestrial). Two, they are still considered "common" and thus not worth the effort. When I do have any available, no one is willing to pay the amount that it costs to raise them, so why bother?

To be fair, I would, but seeing as this applies to people in the US, you're right. Also, I've noticed that not a lot of pet stores sold newts anymore, I guess people stopped getting them (Good and bad at the same time) and the one store that did only had H.Orientalis, not C.pyrrhogaster

 

[michael]

None of the serious breeders are interested in breeding them, for two reasons. One, they are difficult to raise successfully (the metamorphs are terrestrial). Two, they are still considered "common" and thus not worth the effort. When I do have any available, no one is willing to pay the amount that it costs to raise them, so why bother?

I go back and forth on C. pyrrhogastor. In the past I've sold all off for some of the reasons you stated. I'm on a kick again and have a couple kinds again. They are sort of back shelf projects like my smooth newts.

 

[Chinadog]

The Japanese raise pyrrhos under lab conditions by postponing metamorphosis until the newts are fully grown. That way they never want to leave the water and can be fed almost entirely on pellets their whole lives. I looked in to it with a view to offering them at less money than the imports, although in the end I just didn't have the heart to supply petstore fodder.

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2108/zsj.29.293?journalCode=jzoo

 

[seandelevan]

I remember back in the 90s I would see hundreds of these guys crammed in tanks at big box pet stores.

I have a breeding pair but as mentioned they are difficult to breed. If they do they immediately eat the eggs.

 

[Chinadog]

They sure do like eating their own eggs, especially the females, but I haven't found mine (sasayama) to be difficult to breed. I just leave them to it and they start in November and carry on through until June/July.
I have read accounts in older books of them being hit and miss, but I'd always assumed it was people unknowingly trying to cross different races, especially back then when there were so many being imported from all over Japan.

 

[MarkD]

They are definately an awesome breed. I currently have cynops ensicauda popeiand orientalis. I'm waiting for my neuragis crocatus and someone who has pyrrhogaster's for sale. I also have tiger salamanders, fire, bluespotted and will be getting spotteds. I've bred the tigers, blue spotteds and orientalis successfully in an outdoor tub of water. I always like a challenge and they look great. Hopefully I can get my hands on some soon. I have a few tanks that would look great planted with a couple of the pyrrhogasters. Only a matter of time lol.

 

[amphiuma]

I have a C. pyrroghaster of the sasayama race, but since she was purchased at a pet store in Decemember 1992, that's not very helpful. She was full-grown when we got her, so I have no idea how old she is now. She's about 5 1/2" at this point. She's been in my life since I was 10, and if she's still around by 2017, it will be her silver anniversary.

Now I'e hardly seen a newt of any type in a pet store in about 10 years, and any time there was a Cynops newt present, it was almost always a C.orientalis, or a paddletail mislabeled as a firebelly.

 

[Radical1984]

Back when I was a kid in the 90's, Fire belly newts were everywhere and they would be mixed with all kinds of stuff which was pretty bad. But I would assume with the recent outbreaks of that fungus from Cynops Orientalis and now the new laws restricting inter-state transfer, it'll be a lot harder to find them.