Eastern Newt Care Guide Part 1 

TheSalamanderMan If someone was to get a filter what ones do you recommend?

@@holden8745 I would get sponge filter

Filters do get rid of ammonia and NITRITES, that's the nitrogen cycle, nitrates are why we water change.... Plants should take care of nitrates if you're tank is balanced and you really have your tank dialed in but in most cases I would want to do water changes

I just caught a red eft today an man I was shocked so it’s so far is eating an is adapting nicely in the palodarium now it’s just trying to find 1 more at least

@@ImmanuelPattonwhat do you feed them

@@FinnedFusion either these worm packets I get what come in a cube or this bug pellet that my mudskippers eat as well

@@ImmanuelPatton do you just put the cube in there . I’ve got it in a bioactive 20gallon I’m hoping it’s not to big that thing is tiny and I’ve got 11 pill bugs in there so far I’m gonna throw some springtails and flightless fruit flies in there

@@FinnedFusion yea I just put the cube in there and it’ll defrost but it depends on the size of the newt because if it’s still young they would prefer more of the insects options you have usually but almost full grown an a little bigger ones would go for the worm cube and only put 1 in there for them

Glad the video helped! 😁

😂

Sounds pretty amazing to live up there. All the wildlife and especially the salamanders must be awesome!

@@TheSalamanderWilds yeah its pretty cold now and havent seen much in terms of mammals but im not looking forward to a hog encounter.LOL! ima just stick to the netws and salamanders for now,im really surprised they are out during some of the colder nights.could you recommend a good salamander ewt book?youtube works wonders but i need a reference for when im out n about.plus the connections suck up here so ya never know when the net or cells will work.smh,haha.

@@drewdahlen9660 When it comes to newt and salamander books, I've found that the whole subject is lacking in really well thought out, detailed books. The National Audobon Society Reptiles and Amphibians is always an interesting read, but it isn't strictly newts and salamanders. Newts and Salamanders: Everything about selection, care, nutrition, diseases, breeding and behavior by Frank Indiviglio may be a good read, but I haven't read it for myself.

@@TheSalamanderWilds thanks!

That's so awesome Hope you post video or pictures I found my first pair in local park at creek there so cool It's cool your goin natural they will love it blessings 🙏

Glad you enjoyed the video! Sorry about the loss of your newt. They can slip through openings that may not seem big enough. It's happened to me as well. As far as the rock being swallowed, yes it is possible that the rock will not pass through the digestive system if it is too big, ultimately resulting in death. So I always stress using the correct substrate or no substrate at all.

@@TheSalamanderWilds Recently my Newt has a bulge on one side and vertebrae are showing. I did not clean the water soon enough and tried giving shrimp which may have hurt. I feel bad since he is very old and I don't want to hurt him. He did not eat any rocks..are larger, usually. I hope he will be ok. Thanks for replying.

@@TheSalamanderWilds I don't know if reptile sticks are very healthy, but that is what the Newt has eaten for many years.

@@Shasha8674 Shasha8674 I would stop feeding it the reptile sticks as they are not formulated with the correct nutrients for the newt. If you can obtain frozen foods such as frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp and also chopped earth worms, that'll be much better for your newt. If the vertebrae are showing, it may be malnourished. I'm not sure what the bulge could be. If you go to caudata.org, it is a forum with many knowledgeable people. You could post a picture of the newt and they could perhaps explain the bulge.

@@TheSalamanderWilds The bulge happened after I gave the shrimp. Maybe the shrimp is too old? He was normal looking except recently. Makes me sad. Thank you for helping and the link!

Glad you're able to get good use of the information. My aim is to assist the hobby so I'm glad I can contribute in some way.

@@TheSalamanderWilds Im doing a bunch of research before i get a newt. going to start with a Red Eft! thanks for keeping the love in the hobby!

Yup, they have fully developed lungs unlike lungless salamanders which breathe through their skin.

@@TheSalamanderWilds How long can they hold their breath? o-o

@Blake Bishop @Marina Lam I don't have a specific time length as to how long, but it depends on a few factors such as species and possibly metabolic rate. I see my Eastern newts stay under water for about 20 minutes, some times less or sometimes even a bit longer.

Thank you!

Awesome! Always glad to hear about captive bred newts, especially in a species that is far too often wild caught and sold.

Cool

Hey there, gotta say I'm a bit jealous. I would love to have newts on my property! That aside, unfortunately I'm not sure how to answer your question. I'm not sure how I'd deal with a situation like that myself. Perhaps someone at the caudata.org forums can help you out. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on that site and they may be able to give you some advice.

@TheSalamanderMan Thanks for the tip. And yes, I’m fortunate, have everything all the little slimy critters love... woods, rocks, creeks, ponds, springs, etc.

Hi! I don't have a written summary of the care guide videos, but I did do another video that hopefully summarizes the setup for the adult newts: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vw6dfCdPsNQ.html. As far as how many newts you can keep, it depends on how many gallons you'll be utilizing.

@@TheSalamanderWilds Thanks for the reply. The tank I have available is 30 x 19 x 16" high, but at 6" high there is a ventilated strip. So I could keept the water no more than 6" high. I think that would be equivalent to about 15 gallons. There is a fine meshed tight top on the top of the tank to prevent escapes. I'd like to know what brand of aquatic soil to use, as I looked it up and was dazed by the dozens of brand and types. I figured I'd put down a layer of that in this tank, put the polyresin many forked branch replica in there, and add some java moss, duckweed, etc. I intend to substitute an LED light to support the plants for the UVB bulb I have in the fluorescent fixture now, as it's more economical AND COOLER for the newts. I am a bit concerned that sometimes it can get up to maybe 82 degrees in my apartment, but if that is the weather for the day, I would likely be running the a/c to keep it in the mid 70s. When I was a child (many years ago!), I kept Eastern Spotted newts in my regular aquarium along with my tropical fish, and they were fine. Really loved those little guys, so when this tank became vacant due to the resident lizards having aged out, I decided to try newts again.

@@zizu4952 In 15 gallons, I'm thinking 3 to 4 adults should be fine depending on how big they are. As far as the UVB bulb - I'm not too sure about what sort of effects they might have on newts, but if you want more info, this thread might help: www.caudata.org/threads/uv-lights-in-the-care-of-caudates.24694/. Regarding the tropical fish, I really wouldn't recommend mixing these with newts even if you haven't had problems previously - there are too many potential hazards. The temperature requirements alone push the tolerable limits of the fish and newts.

My best recommendation would be to check caudata.org. There are a lot of reputable breeders on this site. Eastern newts don't seem to be widely captive bred so finding captive bred animals may be difficult.

Hi there! If you like, send a message on the Facebook page with photos of the newt you found, and I can provide help or info if you need any. facebook.com/TheSalamanderMan?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Hey there! I'm honestly unsure of how to tackle your situation. I've never dealt with anything like this myself. Maybe try at the caudata.org forums. There are plenty of knowledgeable people on this site that may be able to provide some insight.

Are you going to fill the pond back up? You can stick them in a big tub with a few sticks and they'll be fine for a few days

@@matthewfinger2381 yes but its a slow process, I have pulled out several old fish tanks from my reptile days and set them up for the little critters I'm finding, I might not be able to save them all but at least once its done I can return a fair share of the normal population back into the pond

Hi there, it depends on how small but white worms and dwarf white ispods are good choices. I highly suggest watching the rest of the care guides on this channel, they'll answer your questions.

Very odd behavior. Are you sure it was attempting to swallow the other one? How small is the male? They can be bit aggressive and nip during feeding. Is this something that happens outside of feeding? Separating then was the best course of action in this case, but I'm curious how often this happens.

@@TheSalamanderWilds that I know of it was just this once the female is about twice as big as the male and when I was trying to separate them the males entire head was in her mouth

@@Imperial_Britannia If there's that big of a size difference, it might be best to feed them separately. Otherwise, if this doesn't happen outside of feeding I don't see why they shouldn't be in the same enclosure still. I would just keep an eye on things though. If this happens again, it may be best to separate them completely though.

@@TheSalamanderWilds okay I keep checking on them thank you

The song play at the beginning is called Touchpoint by Audionautix. Glad you enjoyed the video! 😁

@@TheSalamanderWilds I really do! I have had them in aquariums numerous Times, and actually bred a few. In Sweden where i live, we have two kinds, northern crested newt, and smooth newt. Far to cool animals! I didn't know i needed a SalamanderMan channel, but now i do 👍Thanks for the song info, it reminded me of a section in a japanese RPG.

@@albinullanger7862 I love crested newts, I use to have a few. Hope to get some again in the future.

This is something I'm actually not sure of. I'd say they rest in a different sense as they are able to close their eyes, but they seem to be active throughout the day/night and they rest periodically throughout the day. It doesn't appear that they close their eyes to do this.

@@TheSalamanderWilds I figured. We love our little newts. We had eggs lay in our tank recently so we transferred them to a separate container. Its so much fun.

Hey there and thanks for subscribing! I wouldn't recommend dirt from a creek since you run the risk of introducing parasites to your enclosure. Also, the moss that I'm using, Java moss can usually be found either online or at some of your local pet stores. In my experience, Petco carries it but this may depend on your area. Also, if you'd like to determine the gender of your newt, check out the last part of my care guide. I go into a lot of detail on the differences between the males and females. You can usually tell by the cloaca and hind legs in this species. I'll leave the link here for you. Good luck and feel free to ask if you have other questions! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ScnoTecsQ6s.html

Ok thanks for the help!

Hey there, this should answer your questions -- give this a read through: www.caudata.org/cc/species/Notophthalmus/N_viridescens.shtml They are still technically eastern newts, but they're a regional variant.

Hey, that's pretty awesome that you have newts living in your backyard! I have to travel a lot to find them!

I found one too! I named him Tangerine Arancia Newtius!

I found a red eft in my backyard and named him Stanley, after flat Stanley because his head was really flat

Great question! The first sign will be a change in coloration, from the bright red to the olive green color the adults have. It can up to 4 years for a red eft to mature into the aquatic adult, but at that point I would place a very shallow water bowl in the terrestrial enclosure to see if the newt starts to shows interest in being in the water. I say shallow since the red eft stage is very hydrophobic and can drown otherwise. So only do this once the red eft has clearly changed coloration. If the newt prefers to stay in the water, it may be time to introduce it to an aquatic setup.

@@TheSalamanderWilds thank you, my eft is olive green but tail is not quite as flat as ones in your videos, almost like an in between stage. I did the water test and it definitely is showing interest, hanging out underwater about 50% of the time. We did see air bubbles come out of it and my daughter panicked and scooped it out. Even though it is olive green it has been in a dry setup for about a month now while olive.

@@jamesthornton2198 If it spends half of its time in the water, I would try a bigger shallow water area for it and perhaps try some frozen food such as blood worms to see if it eats. This way it can start adapting to an aquatic lifestyle. The higher tail fin that my newts have are because they are males in breeding dress.

@@TheSalamanderWilds ok thank you, my daughter and me are doing this on the fly, we found it all beatin up half dead in a gravel parking lot last year as a bright orange "salamander " i thought and thats how we kept it. Wasnt until i encountered your videos did i realize it was a newt. Its definitely a survivor and i don't want me drowning it to be how it goes out lol, just sometimes it goes halfway in the water with head and top half of body and doesn't move at all and freaks me out because im not sure if its in aquatic stage or not quite there. Wish i could post a pic to u somehow

@@jamesthornton2198 Well, one other thing I can think of is possibly the enclosure may be too dry. If it's going into the water but it's not near the aquatic stage just yet, it may be needing moisture. In that case, I would recommend misting the tank with water everyday with a spray bottle. I do this for my eft once in the morning and once at night before I sleep. Just be sure to not over saturate the enclosure, but a good misting will to keep the substrate moist should help. This way you won't need a shallow water area and potentially run the risk of the newt drowning. But is hard to know for certain without seeing the newt. Since you found it as a red eft and you've had it this long, I'd say your doing a great job and I'm glad the video helped too! If you have any other questions, I'm more than happy to help.

So, I did a little research into this just now. This is new to me and I haven't encountered this problem myself. From what I read, if your newts are having trouble keeping down food, perhaps try smaller food portions. Maybe stick to blood worms for now or perhaps chop up the earth worms.

Yeah ill try breaking them up. I am actually try bloodworms right now, and they started eating them right away. Thanks for your help.

Hi! No, don't do this! It's very dangerous for both the newts and geckos. They both have different living requirements and can't be mixed together - check out my video on this subject: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fapFDGmwBxU.html

Hi! Unfortunately, no - definitely don't do this. A 50/50 land and water setup is a hazardous setup for the spotted salamander, it poses a huge risk of drowning. A spotted salamander requires a completely terrestrial enclosure outside of breeding season. Also, the turtle and salamander should never be housed together. The spotted salamander contains toxins that can be harmful to the turtle, but the turtle will most certainly leave a severe injury to the salamander or worse.

@@TheSalamanderWilds ok bro thanks I honestly didn't know an wanted to ask someone that knows b4 something happened an broke my lill girls heart glad I did u saved me from taking a risk thanks again man have a good one

@@mrddowns1 No problem, I'm glad to answer any questions. 😁

@@TheSalamanderWilds man funny story the reason I asked about putting them in tank together was I finally got my lill girls a salamander they always wanted one an first nite he got out of tank could not find him/her any where was missing for two days an that nite on the 3rd day it showed up on the toilet seat in my girls bath room on other end of house his two day journey went far but I figured hey' he wants to be in water blew my mind how he/she could sense the water an travel to it but long story short that's y I asked bro crazy rite 😂 I cracked up wen I found him/her

@@mrddowns1 Yeah, they can squeeze through and escape when you least expect it - and end up unlikely places too.

Unfortunately, two different species shouldn't be housed together. A same species tank is the way to go. And funny you should ask this, I am uploading a new video on this very subject shortly.

Hi! At the time of recording this video, the animals shown in this video that I was keeping were aquatic adults and not the red eft, which is the immature terrestrial stage of this animal.

@@TheSalamanderWilds cool

What sort of advice are you looking for?

Well I would say it's a great size although the smaller the better. I don't think you can get much smaller with aquatic soil though. Overall, you just want to make sure the substrate you use is small enough that it can pass through if they swallow it.

So how big is your soil

@@vick101max9 The soil is pretty small. The soil comes in individual tiny, almost rounded pieces and they're about small as an arts and craft bead, or slightly bigger. It does vary, and depending on the brand you purchase. I do like to use Amazonia brand, so I'm more familiar with it than others.

Would Fluval plant and shrimp stratum work

@@vick101max9 Yeah it should work just fine.

Not really. The scientific name directly names a species while common names can overlap and be misleading. There's firebelly newts, but they're not all the same. So the scientific name is not insignificant in specifying a particular species.