Bro I love what you’re doing! I love newts and I’m in the process of looking for some Eastern Newts or Rough skinned newts…. Good info here and keep doing what you’re doing! I subbed 👊🏼💪🏼🙂
They love gross ponds. Just look at any small hole of a pond, if there’s fish then it’s unlikely there’s newts. Look for those holes in peoples yards you always drive past, that are covered in duckweed.
Great vid., thanks. I have hatched some Palmate newt eggs here in the UK. They are several weeks old, very small (25-30mm), they have gills and just developed tiny legs. They are in a purely aquarium/aquatic environment with a small sponge filter and lots of weed/algae. 1. How long before I need to worry about them climbing out of the tank? 2. How long before I need to provide them with a terrestrial environment? 3. I have been feeding them Daphnia. Any other tips on feeding during the aquatic stage? Thanks
Newt larvae and salamander larvae grow at very unexpected and random rates. It usually depends on how much you feed them and how much they eat. I’ve had the same species of larvae become fully terrestrial in a month, and a different environment and diet to the same species took 6 months. Id just pay attention to one they develop hind legs, and maybe put in a tiny piece of wood for them to climb on so you can catch them climbing on there before it is too late, they’re likely to do that first. They’re also not likely to climb out until their exterior gills have fully disappeared, and they physically look fully grown (im not sure about that specific kind, but I know that just about all newt and salamander species don’t leave the water until fully grown). Daphnia is great for the beggining! I use that for the early stages of my animals lives, and switch to live bloodworms when they are big enough to fit them in their mouth.
When I say fully grown, I mean fully grown to their terrestrial form. I believe your newts are also red during their terrestrial form, but I may be mistaking. Look for that. Luckily, most of these species function very similarly so there is more information about them
I typically use a chiller at around 50 degrees for mine for just a few days, to stimulate possible breeding. Not at all like a natural winter, but just a boost at the chances. You can even use frozen water bottles if you switch them regularily every few hours for a couple days. But I’ve had success with them breeding by doing absolutely nothing as well
Oh and you can also just put your tank outside, I did that with mine in my screened in porch and kept a heater set to keep the water just above freezing. Don’t do it too long in the heat though, they won’t do well in small areas with extreme heat
Sorry for the late response! I found these newts in a few different disgusting pools of water, one close to my house, one at a park, and another at another park. The most important thing is that the ponds don’t have fish. Newts living in ponds with fish is very rare, they’ll either leave or get eaten. They prefer shallow, muddy holes like sewer drainage areas. Duckweed is a great sign there may be some!
