Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Everyone,
We just got a couple of these neat little guys and I was wondering what their care really should be. I say really, because it seems that as many people think they need a land environment as people who think they need an aquatic one. We have ours in a 10 gallon tank with about 2" of water and rocks to climb out on, we really would like to change it to all land with a nice water bowl, but we want to be sure that is the best thing for them. If you guys can help, that would be awesome! Thanks so much.

Evan

all very good questions. i have a california newt and have tried three different set ups, the first was a 10 gallon with a large water dish. the newt really didn't seem to like it, it wasn't eating much, it was hiding a lot of the day so i switched it to a half land half water with gravel sloping upwards. it was more active, but not too much, plus it didn't look very good. so then i made it so there is about 4 inches of water with a big pile of slate. there's also a java fern in there which it loves. if you are thinking about an aquatic plant java ferns work well cause they can live in cold water, unfiltered water, shallow water, and with constantly getting trampled by a newt. good luck and feel free to contact me at otis07_@hotmail.com if you have any more questions!

see http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Taricha/T_granulosa.shtml
for a good care sheet

Ed

>>Hi Everyone,
>>We just got a couple of these neat little guys and I was wondering what their care really should be. I say really, because it seems that as many people think they need a land environment as people who think they need an aquatic one. We have ours in a 10 gallon tank with about 2" of water and rocks to climb out on, we really would like to change it to all land with a nice water bowl, but we want to be sure that is the best thing for them. If you guys can help, that would be awesome! Thanks so much.
>>
>>
>>
>>Evan

The California newt only stays in the water when breeding. When breeding is finished, all of them must leave the water or they will drown. The males may go to the water earlier than the females and linger long after the last females have laid their eggs. The females generally only go into the water when ready to mate and leave as soon as they have laid their last cluster of eggs.

The rough skinned newt is more aquatic. Some of them can stay in the water year round, although some rough-skinned newts from some localities also prefer to stay out of the water for at least part of the year because their ponds and streams often dry up in the summer and some streams may become uninhabitable during winter rains.

The rough-skinned newt and California newt look very similar so it is often easy to confuse them.