Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. I used to own Western newts. But I'm not sure if the western ones I'm looking to purchase again are considered to be California (Taricha Torosa) or Rough-skinned (Taricha Granulosa) newts. They both have brown on top and orange on their bottom, but the ones I am looking for are the ones that have a Darker Brown on top. Does anyone know which ones they would be? I tried attaching a pic of my tank from 14 years ago. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Johnenewt1
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Noone has any ideas, huh? I thought you guys had experience with newts in this forum... guess not.

Well if your picture would have actually showed up instead of being a little box with an "x" in it someone may have helped you. But I do not need to see a picture. For one thing you CANNOT go by the body color in distinguishing T. torosa from T. granulosa. Because body color varies greatly in both newts. The 1 key factor in telling them apart is their lower eyelid color and 2nd is eye size. T. torosa has light-colored lower eyelids and larger eyes than T. granulosa. T. granulosa has dark lower eyelids and smaller eyes than T. torosa. Hope this helps you out. This concludes today's class: Newts 101
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"I am all that is Divine, I am all that is Evil.
I am the one who brings forth Death,
On the wings of a Weevil." JSKII

its a rough-skinned newt.

Look down at their head from above. Usually granulosa's eyes (which are smaller) do not extend beyond the profile of the head, but tarosa's eyes bulge beyond the profile of the head. This way works about 95% of the time. Locality information may also distinguish the two (but not always).

Hope this helps!
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- Andy Gottscho

1.0 Sandfire x Yellow Bearded Dragon - "Irwin"
0.1 Albino Black Ratsnake - "Misty"
0.1 California Mountain Kingsnake (multifasciata) - "Bandit"

Great, thanks for all of your help, guys.

Johnenewt1