Question about newts .

Trickster · Member Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 309 Location: My Chair

o.k. I saw some red belly newts and i realy like them, i got an aquarium to keep them in and all tht.

But i wana know wut they exactly eat (so far all i know is frozen and freeze dried foods).

Are they cold water or do they need some sort of heating?

And are they labrinths? or do they breathe oxygen from the water?
(The ones i saw had a very low water level so they could reach up and breathe air from above, but the dumb wal-mart employess have no clue wether they labrinths or not or wut.)

Fish Addict · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:08 am Post subject:

here's a link for you
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/48newts.htm

sakura.seppun · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:14 am Post subject:

I own 2 currently, and they are quite healthy. They love/need their lilypad, brine shrimp, and premade "newt pellets".
They like average temperatures, 72-80. I've heard that they like lower temperatures but both of mine hang out by the actual heater all the time, so I guess their actual preference is the warmer water.
Oh, and they like to crawl around on you sometimes, my larger one will hang out on me until his skin starts drying out, then he crawls back towards the tank.
If wal-mart just has the water level down, they are idiots, the newts need something above water to rest on.
Perhaps all of that was in the link, but there you go, you have my personal experience with red belly newts. They are really great, you should look into them.

kc5gvn · Moderator Joined: 15 Mar 2004 Posts: 1147

The link that Fish Addict posted has some good information. They can be kept in a freshwater aquarium with fish that are too large for them to eat and too small for them to be eaten by. The tank water will have to be lower than normal because they have a tendency to climb out of the tank. You will also need to provide a place for them to get out of the water. The easy way to do this is to float a small block of styrofoam in the tank.

dude412 · Member Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 148

Newts are cold blooded so they do need heat and Sakura about how you said you play with yours its not the best idea to do so becuase amphibians skin is extremley porous and take salts and oils from our hands but other than that your newts sound really lucky Your the best

sakura.seppun · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:23 pm Post subject:

Don't worry, I always wash my hands well before I handle them. Its supposed to be okay, as long as you make sure to cleanse your hands well.

Trickster · Member Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 309 Location: My Chair

ok thanks everyone, i might not get a newt, just a normal lizard. I think i rather have something on dry land, and that hunts down crickets. Im looking into getting lepoard geckos, they are nice cuz u can play with em and i would like to train one.

big-pig-666 · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 7:20 pm Post subject:

i am also looking at firebelly newts.. any idea on what the min. tank size for a single specamin would be?

sakura.seppun · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:25 pm Post subject:

If you went for a floating lilypad, rather than half water, half ground you should be able to get away with a 5 1/2 gallon tank. They're pretty docile. Just make sure you have a good filtration system.
If you wanted to do a half and half tank, at least a 10 gallon.