Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have 6 newtlets sold me as Cynops pyrrhogaster but a friend advised me that he buyied from the same breeder but theirs seems to be C. orientalis. As they are so small I found difficult to say, but I think they are C. orientalis. Here are some pics of them:
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/1857Cynops_sp_2-med.jpg

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/1857Cynops_sp_3-med.jpg

They are now with 1 ¹/2" lenght and how long they would take to get 2 or 3"? The temperature is hot, like 25°C, and they are kept in semiaquatic setup.

Did you buy them from an actual breeder of cynops or a pet store? There are a couple of people breeding them, and typically they sell metamorphs which may be about an inch long.
Pyrrogaster is illegal to export from Japan so if you bought it in the pet trade then it is highly unlikely that they are pyrrogaster.

Ed

Regardless of what they are 25 C is way to warm for them. You need to get them 20 C or cooler as those temps will stress them out and potentially kill them.

When they get the site back up and running check out the cynops sheets on caudata culture.

Ed

I bought from a breeder here in Brazil. I know that orientalis is far more common in pet trade than pyrrhogaster, but I had a pyrrho some years ago so can be potentially a pyrrho.

The temp here is hard to get as low as 20°c but my pyrrho as cited above lived well in high temps, so I am not worried about it. Just curious to know the growing rates....

Hi:

A while back I wrote an article for the Veterinarian Information Network on how to identify newts in the genus Cynops. Here is a link to that article:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=194&S=4&SourceID=57

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at: phfrog@pethobbyist.com

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PHFrog

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You need to update the statement about pyrrogaster being the most common in the pet trade as this has not been true for almost a decade now.

Ed

I think it still to soon to determine the species....thanks anyone. How long you guys thinks that they takes to get one more cm? Thanks

The pyrros I have raised were not that color black at that size, they were a brown color.

It depends on how you rear them. I keep mine aquatic and they usually can reach reproductive size within a year. For me they are usually three inches in a little over six months post metamorphosis.

Ed

It really depends on what you feed them. Live blackworms and chopped earthworms are the best for rapid growth. Here is a photo identification guide for adults:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/firebelly.shtml

Here are some photos of the 2 species of juveniles for comparison:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/35012.jpg
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/985/41758.html?1124530055
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/40460.html?1123439527