Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My son who is now 24 bought a baby firebelly newt 15 years ago. We still have it. I keep it in a plastic retangular container. We change the water every couple of days and feed it frozen brine shrimp twice a day. This amazes me that he has lived so long especially because we don't have him in an aquarium. What is their life span?

That's pretty impressive! If you really keep the water changes on a regular basis like that, this would explain why it has lived OK in a small container. Most people eventually get lazy, and the water in a small container will foul quickly if neglected. It's not the oldest. I have an eastern newt that I've had since 1983. There are rumors of captives living up to 50 years.

Fifteen years, WOW! BUt I am kinda suprised as you've only been feeding him brine shrimp!(?)That stuff isn't all that great for our newts, plus its been known to bloat them. I've had several fbn't that ate brine shrimp then never ate again.

Pretty lucky,
I've also heard of those rumors, but of fbn's getting as old as fourty.

Steven

I met someone online last year or so who had had her newt for 27 years and was still keeping it.

15 years is pretty old! The average age is about 6 months, but that's due to ill care. I've had a pair of japfires since 1989 and they were breeding adults when I got them. A member of the local herp society had one die at 23yrs of age. Other species of salamanders and newts are known to get a lot older, with sirens occasionally breaking the 50yr plus

All of my research indicates they can live "decades". Congrats on the longevity & on keeping up on the water changes for all that time. You could spice up its diet with frozen bloodworms & newt/salamandar bites (prepared food) if you want.
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0.3.0 leos, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
0.0.5 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton & Olivia Newton John
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena