newts… they still make them…

[Magnum Man42 156]

I used to buy these when I was a kid, to put in my aquariums back then, I have not seen them since… I found some, when I was diving deeper looking for banded sun fish…

Eastern Newt

Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) The Eastern Newt is a captivating native amphibian known for it striking greenish-brown coloration, spots, and fascinating three-stage life cycle- including the terrestrial red eft and fully aquatic adult. As adults, they thrive in cool, well-oxygenated...

nativeaquariums.com

 

[GaryE2]

In Spring, I can admire such creatures in the forest. There are some very attractive ones out there, just across the street.

 

[FattyFish]

I'm ashamed to say that when I was a kid, we used to find and collect Palmate Newts to play with. We used to keep them in buckets of water, etc but sadly they would eventually succumb to our ignorance as children. The area where we used to collect them is where Nissan UK now stands. It is good to see now that whenever Nissan expands, there is a protection order in place to ensure newts and other wildlife are cared for, removed or otherwise protected before any further land is developed.

 

[GaryE2]

I would never catch the local ones or bring them home. I don't even like disturbing them to look. I often meet up with kids, well supervised by parents, lifting rotting logs in the forest to see and learn. I haven't seen anyone mistreating them or acting like we did when we were young and ignorant. There's some improvement in how people behave, sometimes...

In Spring, my daughter had a yellow spotted salamander party, where people made salamander shaped food, and she hid salamander figures she'd made under wood in the garden for kids to look for and trade in for gummies.

 

[Tomsfish]

I had newts in my 135 when I kept local fish.
I caught them and the fish at a local lake.
The fish do not eat the newts as they have some foul tasting slime or other protective feature.

 

[Jennet21 79]

When I was younger I used to go out to do newt counts and bat counts with an officer from the (local) river protection authority.

We had the radar that helped with bat counts, but the newt counts were done in the early evening at local ponds, of which we have a fair few in our area. This was in the 90's before I got to the point where I could not walk far due to chronic fatigue and pain.

It was a great feeling to know that we were protecting our local wildlife, although unfortunately people from possibly Poland and the area around there had bought over some of their type of ?Crayfish? that were polluting our ponds and eating our newts.

 

[Uberhoust]

Kept some local rough skin newts that I raised from polliwogs I found in a ditch, I picked them out because they looked slightly different from the frog tadpoles. They are beautiful creatures to my way of thinking but also very aggressive, I noticed that some of the polliwogs would all of a sudden be missing a tail, then I saw one of the larger polliwogs lunge and remove the tail from another, fully eating the tail of the other. As they get older this behavior continued, and I didn't have the means at the time to effectively feed them long term, so I released them back into the ditch I got them from, Rough Skinned Newts are native to this area. Normally I don't like to release critters back but did not see the harm in this case.

 

[emeraldking21 72]

I've kept the Iberian ribbed newt ( Pleurodeles waltl) in the past. That's a bigger salamander. Usually I could hold him and he was able to wander around indoors from time to time. But sadly there was one moment that he was also out of his terrarium, after a while we were not able to find him back. He must have been walking out of the house when the door to the backyard was open. Despite of the fact that we've been looking for him, we sadly never saw him back. He was just over 12 inches at that time. When I used to sit on the balcony, he was allowed to join. And in general, he would just stay beside me or under my chair. So, we were already used to it that he would stay around. But at some point he chose to enjoy his freedom... I don't know if he made it to our park (just a two minute walk from us), where we have this pond and an enormous amount of vegetation.

 

[GaryE2]

I've discovered that not only do they still make them, but they make them in China! There's a Chinese Fire Belly Newt (Cynops orientalis).

 

[BullTerrierChild21 5]

I used to buy these when I was a kid, to put in my aquariums back then, I have not seen them since… I found some, when I was diving deeper looking for banded sun fish…

Eastern Newt

Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) The Eastern Newt is a captivating native amphibian known for it striking greenish-brown coloration, spots, and fascinating three-stage life cycle- including the terrestrial red eft and fully aquatic adult. As adults, they thrive in cool, well-oxygenated...

nativeaquariums.com

I've been looking for Eastern Newts for years in the wild, but I've never seen one in person. I think I'm going to buy some online after I set up a tank. Backwater Reptiles are also selling them, but they are for $40 apiece and I know close to nothing about the company.

Eastern Newts are specifically fascinating to me, Thanks for linking a cheaper option to get them!

 

[WhistlingBadger38 20]

I've been looking for Eastern Newts for years in the wild, but I've never seen one in person. I think I'm going to buy some online after I set up a tank. Backwater Reptiles are also selling them, but they are for $40 apiece and I know close to nothing about the company.

Eastern Newts are specifically fascinating to me, Thanks for linking a cheaper option to get them!

Be sure to do your due diligence and research Backwater reptiles. From what I hear, their stock quality and customer service might leave something to be desired.

I have been wanting to try an emperor newt, but I think I'm going to wait until we move and I rebuild my paludarium to include a larger land area with a couple of breeding ponds. Those things are EXPENSIVE, and it would be a lot easier to justify the expense if I had a reasonable chance of recouping some $$.

 

[BullTerrierChild21 5]

Be sure to do your due diligence and research Backwater reptiles. From what I hear, their stock quality and customer service might leave something to be desired.

I have been wanting to try an emperor newt, but I think I'm going to wait until we move and I rebuild my paludarium to include a larger land area with a couple of breeding ponds. Those things are EXPENSIVE, and it would be a lot easier to justify the expense if I had a reasonable chance of recouping some $$.

Thank you! There do seem to be cheaper options, so those are hopefully the best bet.

 

[WhistlingBadger38 20]

Cheaper isn't often better with amphibians. Make sure you thoroughly research any web site you want to buy from. Just googling "Is ReptileNirvana.com a legit company?" then carefully perusing the reddit and reptile forums can keep you out of a lot of trouble.

 

[BullTerrierChild21 5]

Cheaper isn't often better with amphibians. Make sure you thoroughly research any web site you want to buy from. Just googling "Is ReptileNirvana.com a legit company?" then carefully perusing the reddit and reptile forums can keep you out of a lot of trouble.

Ok, thanks! I'm aware that cheaper can be worse or the same level as more expensive, but I don't have much experience with online stores. I only once ordered some fish from Sanctuary Cichlids and they came great!

 

[Rusty_Shackleford41 156]

Be sure to do your due diligence and research Backwater reptiles. From what I hear, their stock quality and customer service might leave something to be desired.

I have been wanting to try an emperor newt, but I think I'm going to wait until we move and I rebuild my paludarium to include a larger land area with a couple of breeding ponds. Those things are EXPENSIVE, and it would be a lot easier to justify the expense if I had a reasonable chance of recouping some $$.

Backwater had a horrible reputation 15 years ago. They were known as drop shippers. Meaning many of the animals they had for sale weren't even in their possession.
If you placed an order through them the animal would actually be shipped from the Florida farm that raised it. Many times Backwater never saw the animal they sold.
I wouldn't buy from them if you gave me the money.