Red Belly Newts

[Afroman22]

I'm thinking about getting red belly newts for my 20g and was wonder what tempture water do they need and do they need a heat lamp on the land part of the tank?

 

[moray]

Do you know the latin name of the newt you want, as there are several different red/fire bellied newts. I think this is the most common, if it's the one try:


http/www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/amphibi...-belly-newt.php

 

[big mick]

You dont need a heater for them and dont like a strong current. They need somewhere to get out of the water, Ive got a lilly plant in with mine and they sit ip on the leaves quite alot. Just make sure they cant escape.

Ive had mine a few months now and they have already had a little baby......they're cool wee things.

 

[Saedcantas]

Here's a link to my own Oriental Firebellied Newt caresheet, the information is relatively the same for C.pyrrhogaster (which is the Japanese Firebelly)

Firebellied Newt Care

You can distinguish the Chinese and Japanese forms from one another since the Japanese (C.pyrrhogaster) reaches a slightly larger size and it's tail tip is pointed while the Oriental/Chinese firebelly has a rounded tail tip

 

[Afroman22]

Thanks for the help guys, would it be ok if I got a heater and set it to 70F because our house gets cold at night and I'm afraid the temp changes from day to night would be stressful? What kind of lid will I need as I have a regular aquarium hood already on it but from the link that moray provided it seems that they need a tight fitting lid, would one of those metal lids like this be ok http/www.all-about-screen-doors.com/images/P1010007.JPG ? Are platys ok tank mates for the water part as at the pet store they have platys in the same tank as the newts, what other fish could I put in the tank? How will I cycle the tank as I don't think I could take a filter sponge from one of my aquarium filters and put it in the filter as they are bigger than the filter needed for the tank? Would placing a filter sponge in the tank work to cycle it? Also on the land part at the pet store they have water up to the level of the land to where the land is soggy with water, is that ok if I do it in this tank? I'm going to pile gravel up on one end of the tank and have it slope down into the land part so that the newts can get in and out of the tank, will the gravel stayed piled up on the land end of will it keep sliding down into the land part?

 

[magustrate]

There are many species of newts that have red bellies. The ones known as "Fire belly" are Cynops sp. and for the most part they do best at temperatures below 21C (70F). Cynops pyrrhogaster is not often found in the pet trade anymore in the US, but it does do well in warmer temperatures (70-80) for at least part of the year. The one you are finding are more than likely Cynops orientalis.

Other newt species that have red bellies that are often sold are the Taricha sp. which include the California Newt, red-bellied newt and the rough skinned newt. I believe Taricha torosa. These newts also do best at temps below 21C. They will also not do all that well with fish as they may snack on them.

A final species that may be called the red bellied would be Pachytriton sp. These are quite aggressive and probably shouldn't be housed together.

Excellent care sheets can be found here:

Cynops orientalis
http/www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml

Taricha torosa
http/www.caudata.org/cc/species/Taricha/T_torosa.shtml

Pachytriton sp.
http/www.caudata.org/cc/species/Pachytri...chytriton.shtml

 

[Afroman22]

They look more like the Cynops orientalis but the ones at the pet store were alot smaller.

 

[Afroman22]

How much do turtle docks usually run as I've decided to use this as the land part of the tank?