Seems like a decent care sheet. I've done a little reading about them, and I've never seen anything about temperatures as high as 80. Low temps seem to be what everyone agrees on.
80 degrees is absurd
Do a search on where they originate and then do some checking on the web. I have done this for any reptiles and amphibians. Most important is always is a clean habitat. Provide them with "cover" which is extremely important. Live food works just not to big.
Small crickets and worms. Never feed to much they do not eat like a cat or dog . Cycling should not be overlooked and find out if the species does anything close to hibernation. Why.
Chinese fire belly newts are relatively low maintenance. They are wimpy and take a long time to respond to food. You can keep maybe 6-8 newts in a 10 gallon. Do not mix them with any other species, because they will be unable to compete for food. They do best in temperatures between 50 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Higher temperatures will stress them out. Given that their optimal temperatures are in the cool zone, few plants will work, but I would use egeria densa. They are completely carnivores, and will not bother destroying plants. I fed mine bloodworms and tubifex worms. Mine never ate commercial food. Fun Fact: They eat their shed skin, so do not worry about that.
My leos and cuban at their shed skin, too. I would have to concentrate on keeping their habitat cool, although I think evaporation would help with that.
Just know there are two different kinds. You got the Chinese and the Japanese fire belly newts. I have and still do keep both. The Chinese FB are more docile, "roly poly", and bit smaller and the most common to find. The Japanese FB are a little more aggressive, faster, little bit bigger, and harder to find. I've kept both of them together fine. They are constantly scavenging for food. They will try to eat anything they can get their mouths on. I feed mine frozen bloodworms and once in awhile shrimp pellets. But I have personally seen them eat: small worms, small crickets, slugs, snails, small fish, pill bugs, black worms, and probably their favorite frog tadpoles. I've always kept them in my basement where it's usually 67. I have kept them in the low 50's for a winter one time just fine as well. But yeah if it starts hitting 80 they will be trying to escape by crawling up the side of the tank. Keep a lid on it. These guys can escape if given a chance. They have bad eye sight but amazing sense of smell. They do recognize you and begin to swim excitedly around when you get near the tank in anticipation of food. Once in awhile mine will hang out on land but 90% of the time they are in the water. I've noticed the more plants and or cover in the water the more time they spend in it. I have 4 and a juvenile in a 40 gallon. You could do 3-4 in a ten if you provide lots of plants and nooks and crannies for them to explore. These guys are curious and are usually snooping around sniffing everything like a dog. They are cool. I've also kept eastern spotted newts and Oregon newts too. But the fire bellies are the easiest and hardiest to keep.
newts are great herps to keep and watch. There are a sect of guys who live and die with newts. once you learn the ropes, trry for some of the more rare species. they are beautiful.
oops, wrong quote. I jsut received 5 red spotted newts and am building a nice 20 gal vive fro them. they are already trying to breed in my holding enclosure so I am scrambling to get things up and running. have you seen any strangling / courtship behavior from your FBN?
I just purchased a Paddle-tailed Newt. It is pretty awesome. He's currently in my FBT paludarium but I'm gonna transfer him in a larger tank in a week! They are so cool!
I love red spotted newts. I used to catch those guys by the dozens and keep them in a 5g bucket with bricks stacked up so they could crawl out of the water if they wanted. I'd keep and watch them a few days and release them. Never tried keeping them long term in an aquarium though. Might be a cool project for next year. The juveniles are awesome too. I wish they'd stay that super bright red for life.
I had one in a small paludarium once (a long time ago). kinda interesting critter. usually fed it pellets, can't remember if they were specifically for newts, or if they happened to be cichlid, turtle, or some generic pellet it took a liking too. A friend of mine used to hand feed it, by sticking some pellets on her wet finger and putting it in front of the newt. bit her (and hung on) a few times, but I guess it didn't hurt, cause she didn't stop feeding it. didn't make the newt look terribly bright though...
I've heard the toxins in their skin (most amphibians have this) can bother other critters in the tank, but I think I just kept mine with some feeder guppies.
seemed to be pretty easy to care for from what I remember.
I love those little guys! Currently planning out a nice tank for them, however I gotta take care of upgrading my African clawed frogs into their final home first XD I really can't wait to get things going with the newts though I love water/land setups and can't wait to design and plant the tank for them. They are awesome to watch too, especially around feeding time.
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