Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A relative of mine had a newt that a friend gave them and when I saw it, I knew it wasn't a species I was familiar with. After some research, I ID'd it. When I told them how to take care of it properly, they gave it to me because they felt I could do a better job, I guess. It had been kept in a small plastic critter cage for two years with lime green gravel and a few shells in shallow water and fed 2 tropical fish shrimp pellets every 2 to 3 days. I now have it in a 15 gal. tall. He was very active for a few days (probably was a shock to actually be able to swim), but now he sits out of the water next to a potted plant most of the day (similar to how he lived in his critter cage which is how he probably survived it so well). Maybe my undergarvel filter is too strong? I nudge him into the water every other day, which he does without any real protest, and gorges on bloodworms (I'm working on varying the diet). Anyway, he's been doing good...he's only 4 inches long and I've read they should be 7. I'm hoping he'll grow and not be stunted, but it's OK either way. To liven the tank up, I added some fish. I read zebra danios make good companions. I've added 3 of the new genetically altered "glo fish" that are very pretty. So far, all's going well. I welcome any suggestions or feedback.

I've had my Hong Kong Warty Newt for 9 years now. He was as large when I got him as he is now (about 6 in long), so I assume he was already fully grown then....so I have no idea how old he is for sure. He eats pretty much anything...live, frozen, freeze dried, gel, etc. I tried putting in some little fish once for companionship. He ate them.

I keep everything pretty stable in the tank. He very rarely exits the water, but every now and then I let things go for too long, and he lets me know by climbing out of the water in protest.

As long as I keep him healthy, how long do you suppose my little guy will live?

Photos? Id like to compare yours with mine only to be sure i do have 3 Paramasotriton Hongkongensis too.But i didnt know they could reach 7 inches! Isnt that too big for them?
My babies prefer dry tank than water and often hide in the dry area of their tanks.They LOVE mealworms.
Recently i bought a sick Paramesotriton (my 4th one)that didnt have an arm and was in a tank full of dead mates.All of them died of a mysterious disease which only visible characteristic was an open and deep wound on the throat.Although mine looked free of that disease i suppose it was contaminated too because after 10 days he was with me it died of the same disease in only 2 days! I do hope my healthy ones will not be contaminated by that disease too!