# Charles Snell / Newt Eggs



## Catrinohs (Apr 21, 2018)

Hello,

I am hoping to get contact details for Charles Snell to acquire some smooth newt eggs. I have bought from him before but his [email protected] email address is not in use anymore.

I used to love raising the eggs into newts before releasing them into our pond, and I'm hoping to do it again this summer. Does anyone have up to date contact details for him, or an alternate breeder who sells any of Britain's 3 native newts?

Many thanks!


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

Is he a member on here?


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

I don't think so.


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## Catrinohs (Apr 21, 2018)

He isn't a member on here as far as I know, I got his original email address from a post on these forums a few years back


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

Stephen P said:


> Is he a member on here?


No he isn't as I have looked for him and not found him on our members database.


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## el Snappo (Mar 4, 2017)

That's a name from the past! :gasp: Good god; Can we even assume he's still going? He'd be getting on, by now.

I know one member, on here, knew the Faces, back in those days. If anyone knows about Charlie, he will. And, I'm sure, he'll be in touch by PM.

I got some Crested newts eggs off the Snell, one time. Ended up with a tank full of the things. Wondering what to do with them! :mrgreen:


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Catrinohs said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am hoping to get contact details for Charles Snell to acquire some smooth newt eggs. I have bought from him before but his [email protected] email address is not in use anymore.
> 
> ...


All three species are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
It is an offence to sell and buy them unless truly captive bred. The onus on proving this is on the seller and buyer as the law is rare as it is one of reverse burden of proof. In other words all specimens traded are assumed to be wild unless proven otherwise by the defence.
To be captive bred the specimen must have come from eggs laid in captivity following a mating in captivity. 
Taking gravid animals and collecting their spawn means the resulting young are still wild caught. 
Crested newts are another issue altogether as it is illegal to collect them. So to prove you have legal young to sell will be frankly impossible.


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

All of his newts are truly captive bred over many generations.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

colinm said:


> All of his newts are truly captive bred over many generations.


I don't doubt that. 
Proving it, if it came to it, would be interesting as there is currently no benchmark set as acceptable proof. 
I suspect that proving native amphibians being sold are truly CB ie captive adults mating in captivity, spawning and developing, would be far harder than for native reptiles. 
With reptiles you could film the mating, laying and hatching. Or mating and birth. 
BUT how do you prove beyond reasonable doubt that the newts being sold were from a batch of spawn laid in a tank from a captive mating, rather than collected in a pond. 
It's an interesting point to consider, which also shows flaws in the legislation.


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## Caleb (Oct 21, 2009)

ian14 said:


> how do you prove beyond reasonable doubt that the newts being sold were from a batch of spawn laid in a tank from a captive mating, rather than collected in a pond.


There have been court cases where DNA testing has been used to prove that birds sold as captive-bred were not actually related to their supposed parents- the same could be done for amphibians to prove one way or the other.


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## ROGER KEAY (Mar 5, 2020)

Catrinohs said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am hoping to get contact details for Charles Snell to acquire some smooth newt eggs. I have bought from him before but his [email protected] email address is not in use anymore.
> 
> ...


Hi CATRINOHS
Please contact me [email protected] can help.


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## pissed as a newt 69 (Apr 6, 2021)

Hi, im trying to buy some captive bred great crested newts. Can anybody help me please.


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