Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi'ya all! I got my new Japanese Fire Belly Newt yesterday!! "It" is very cute. Because of age I am unable to determine the sex yet, so "its" name is Ecko. "It" is only about 3 1/2 inches long. . . so I gather Ecko is rather young. Anyway all is good so far although it hasn't eaten yet. I am guessing it will take a few days for it to settle in. Ok just thought I'd share.

Icy

n/p
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1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn snake Fuzzy
1.3.0 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
3 Hermit crabs Cletus, Jethro & Bubba
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

actually by the size of him i'd say that is an adult, youd need a pic of the tail in relation to the body to sex the newt-females are bigger with longer tails, but 3.5 inches is full grown especially for a male orientalis.

Oh really? Everything I have read on Japenese fire bellies says that an adult is usually between 5 and 6 inches from nose to tail. The lady at the LPS said the same thing. Hmmm. . . I wonder if the info I'm getting is full of crap?? *LoL*

actually that is true for japanese newts(cynops pyrrhogastor) but from the look of that picture you dont have one of those you have a cynops orientalis(a chinese fire belly) they are often misslabled in petshops and it is very rare to buy a juvenile in the pet trade as they are wild caught normally. jap fire bellies have been very hard to find latly on the pet trade. either way all cynops can be sexed from an early age by their tail proportions, and with a full pic of the tail the newts identity could be better known too as both those species have distinctive tail shapes.

I will see what I can do to get a full shot of him today and post it so you can have a look.

Icy