# Newt? ID him please!



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I wasn't sure where to put this thread, but I found this little guy in Bethany in Connecticut in a small year-round pond. They hatched from a jelly-mass of green eggs (maybe a few hundred laid together), the jelly was clear and firm. The little newt has legs under its gills if you look closely. Its about an inch long.

I think they might be spotted salamander babies, but what do you guys think?


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## Noto (Oct 26, 2009)

They're hard to ID at that size, but spotted salamander is the most likely thing, especially based on the egg mass description.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Yeah, I guess I'll wait and see? 

Do you know what they are supposed to do after hatching? Are they like baby fish after hatching (just sit there for a few days without swimming)? Mine just sort of sit there and don't move unless I touch them, then they dart away super fast. 

I turned the temp down to 72 F for them. There are tons of little crustaceans in the tank from a local pond.


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## Noto (Oct 26, 2009)

They are pretty lazy for a while after hatching, and take time to absorb the yolk before becoming more active and feeding. Do you know what you're going to do with him as he grows? You can't return him to the wild.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

That's my nephew, Joey.
His parents have been looking for him.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hahaha! Yesssss! I was hoping you'd chime in on this thread  Gotcha with the title did I?? 

Ok thats good to know. Unfortunately I have about 15-20 babies in my 55g. I only have cherry shrimp in there and those little pond creatures. I know they'll eat the pond things as soon as they start moving around, and when they grow a bit the shrimp will be on the menu


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

I couldnt resist. Thats what happens when you have a sense of humor.

LOL LOL LOL LOL


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Update! These buggers are natural born predators. They are eating the little bugs in the tank and growing fast!

May 4th 2010









May 13th 2010


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## gonathan85 (Sep 12, 2009)

cool!


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

very kool!! you could do a replica of their environment with local creatures/critters


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Haha yup! I've pretty much got a replica of their environment in my 55g, mainly little bugs for them to eat and no fish to eat them 

The pond where I found them had many dragonfly larvae which would eat them if I had them in my tank.

These little guys grow SO fast. They already have all four legs and have probably doubled in size since they hatched. I hear they take 2-4 months to reach adult size, so I suppose I need to figure out what to feed them as they get bigger. Any ideas? They seem to be ambush predators and don't seem to actively hunt things down (but sometimes they move a little). I wonder if they will take frozen bloodworms?


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Let my people go.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Haha! But they love it in my tank


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hey I just found all my newts! I put like 20-25 babies in the tank and then after a few weeks I only saw 2 newts in the tank. I finally found them in my filter with a lot of cherry shrimp. All the newts look kind of smaller then the ones in the main tank (probably because they aren't getting as much food). I thought the newts had eaten each other or something.

I'm not sure what to do with so many of them, I can easily support 3-5 newts in the main tank, but 20-25?? Perhaps I'll put them back in the pond I found them in. I checked the size of the pond newts and they are wayyyy smaller then any of the newts I have even the filter newts. Maybe I should just leave them in the filter?? 

Ideas??

Newt - do you want to host some of your cousins in your tank for a while?


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## Aquaticz (May 22, 2009)

I'd suggest some gut loaded pin heads.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I'd love to but how do I get the pinheads to stay underwater where the newts can eat them?

I've heard they eat baby brine but eh... its a lot of work to hatch them every 3 days. I have 3-4 different worm cultures but I don't really know how to harvest them, microworms are really frigging tiny!


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Eek the newts are huge now. Nearly 2 inches long 

I'm worried they will eat my shrimp soon. Haha.


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

Take them to your LFS... what ever you do don't release them into the wild! 
or sell them on here!


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Zapins said:


> I have 3-4 different worm cultures but I don't really know how to harvest them, microworms are really frigging tiny!


Dip a finger in the worm culture, dip the worm-coated finger into the tank. :mrgreen:

That said, I bet they would start eating your poor little shrimp... I'll take them if you want to save them from those vicious newts, though :wink:

Also, if you want to risk mosquitos in your fishroom, you could put some larvae in the tank... I bet the newts would love some of those.  And you might want to start trying to get them to take some kind of small, sinking pellet food... makes life easier in the long run.

As for rehoming the extras, I'll ask my little sister if she wants a pet newt or two. She already has an African clawed frog and a pair of gerbils (and a horse, lol) but she's an animal nut... do these guys eventually need land to crawl on, or are they permanently aquatic newts?


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

LVKSPlantlady said:


> Take them to your LFS... what ever you do don't release them into the wild!
> or sell them on here!


What! - Enslave my people?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

LVKSPlantlady - I found them at the local pond, so putting them back wouldn't hurt I don't think. I might have helped them out actually since they are much bigger then the ones in the pond.

asukawashere - I'd love some mosquito larvae! I've been having a hard time getting them to grow in the tubs I put outside. The stupid buggers never seem to want to grow when I want them to, they just want to lurk around the place and bite me while I sleep! 

The newts also seem to spend most of their time sitting/walking around the bottom, I haven't seen them actually swim anywhere near the top so I suspect the mosquitoes would be lucky enough to change into mosquitoes 

Newt - its not so bad! They will have a good life, the ones in my tank are nearly 2 inches in length vs. the ones in the pond which are under an inch!


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

You might want to check and see if they are a protected/endangered species.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

I wouldn't return them once they've been in captivity, even if they were locally collected - they could be carrying non-native microorganisms from your tank, obtained from, perhaps, your shrimp, which may prove fatal to this, that, or the other thing once it gets out into the local wetlands. Such things have happened before, and given the aquarium hobby quite the bad rap. It'd be one thing to introduce them to a controlled ornamental pond with no outlet into native bodies of water (like when I toss my extra Najas into my goldfish pond, or putting the goldfish in the pond in the first place), but I'd not let them back into the wild. Rehome them instead with people who have paludariums and stuff. 

As to the mosquitoes, I've discovered the secret to culturing them is to _not_ want to culture them. Then you get lots and lots of them.  But, if you're ever in the Farfield area, stop by - I've got tons o.0' My cichlids, cories, and loaches - and even the endlers - all love them as treats, and they're the cheapest live food one can get... unless you live in an area at-risk for malaria, lol.

The other thing about 'skeeter larvae is that when something disturbs them, or breaks the water surface tension, their instinct is to go to ground and hide in the gravel... where hungry bottom dwellers are happy to suck them up  That said, given that there aren't a lot of predators in that tank, some will probably hatch... at which point I'm sure they will suck your blood and lay new eggs in your tanks for all the fish to eat. Maybe.

Mosquito larvae that you don't use the same day can be put in a jar in the fridge... the cold temps slow down their metabolisms and hinder their rate of development into winged, bloodsucking pests. If any do hatch in there, shake up the jar and get them all waterlogged to keep them from flying out when you open the jar to pour some in the tank.

On the other hand, as a general word of advice to everyone, don't feed mosquito larvae to any tanks you have in your bedroom - it'll come back to bite you in the rear, literally o.0'


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hmmm! Well the newts in the filter have mysteriously disappeared (I suspect they died when the filter got an air bubble and didn't work for 2 days).

However, the one smart newt who didn't get sucked up by the filter survived and he is a whopping 3 inches now!


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Nice photo. Your newt looks kind of like he wants to eat me, though. o.0' Has he gotten fat on cherry shrimp yet?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Haha, I'm actually not sure if he is eating the shrimp. I haven't seen any baby teeny tiny shrimp in the tank, but there are plenty of adults. I have also seen him eating the small microorganisms that swim around the tank so perhaps he is mainly eating those?

He is a little fatty now, 3 inches and a tummy about 3/4 inches across.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Haha, pudgy little newt.  I bet he is eating your baby shrimps. He probably doesn't like the tougher exoskeletons of the adults or something. Just speculating. I say you should put him in a paludarium or something in case he has a terrestrial stage in his newtly life cycle. Also then he won't eat any shrimps.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Yes I think he will start to change soon. They apparently take 2-4 months to reach the land phase. 

But I'll know when that time comes since their gills start to recede. What would he eat when he becomes land-bound forever?


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Earthworms, maybe? I bet he'd love to snack on little earthworms. Or other small bugs of some sort...


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hmm yeah worms seem to be a good idea, but what about winter? Do I need to overwinter him somehow?


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Not sure about the overwintering thing, my guess is that he'll just keep getting fat on worms all year if you let him. Winter is probably more an inconvenience than a necessity to him  But I can't say for sure.

And, you can always start up an earthworm culture to have worms in the winter for him. Feed them old coffee grounds and newspaper shreds and they'll breed like.... worms. ' And give you something to do with your old coffee grounds...


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## Jeffww (May 25, 2010)

What's the size of the newt? And what part of the world are you in. There's no definite way of identifying him until you supply that information and until he's almost metamorphosed. Okay they won't need to overwinter until they are adults and even then it's not 100%. You can probably trigger metamorphosis by changing the water a bit more often and raising temperatures slightly. You should just wait. It's either a salamander or newt can't say for sure but judging from your locale I'd say a marbled or mole salamander of some sort or eastern newt.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Newt parade:


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Haha. I'm pretty sure he is a spotted salamander, I'm in Connecticut USA and he was hatched out of a green egg which corresponds only to spotted salamanders.

Hes roughly 3 inches long and the water is around 80F


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

I'm fairly certain its a girl.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

:O

But but but... its too ugly to be a girl!


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Oh, it's a girl and she's spectacular! LOL

Not too sure its a spotted salamander (there are several types in this area).
More likely a Eastern Red-spotted Newt.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/james_harding/pcd3912_074.jpg/view.html


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Do I even want to know how to tell the difference between girlie newts and guy newts? ' (don't answer that, it's mostly rhetorical)

Anyway, don't the young stages of the red-spotted newts still have those distinct red spots? Unlike this newt?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I really think its a spotted since only they have green algae covered eggs and no other species I found online had anything like that.


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