# Wild palmate newts how to keep?



## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Hi all,

I was wondering how and if you can keep wild palmate newts? I have heard you can but what about the stages were they swim more and they just stay on land? Basically can you write a brief explanation on keeping them.

Many thanks.


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

In all honesty they make pretty boring pets! 
They are much more interesting when you observe them in the wild. Palmate newts are protected under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This prohibits their sale and trade, but as far as I know there are no laws against keeping them as pets. Both adults and juveniles require fully terrestrial setups as they are very hydrophobic outwith the breeding season. A water dish can be put in the enclosure but it is unlikely that it will be used. An aquatic setup can be made for the adults in spring but they will only use it if they have been hibernated beforehand. Personally I would go for other species, for people who are beggining to keep newts I would reccomend aquatic species simply for ease of care.

Stuart


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Boring pets don't bother me. For example, I have a macrobrachium pilimanus shrimp that hides a lot and only comes out for food and at night, and he is my favourite animal I have.

So they don't need a large area of water? Is peat moss good as a substrate (wet)? Do you know of any plants that do well with them?

Many thanks.


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

You may not mind having boring pets, but please consider the impact of taking newts from the wild. Damp sphagnum moss works well as a substrate and any plants found wild here will be fine with them i.e. Ferns. Please consider other species before taking wild newts. Also take into consideration that you should not re-release wild newts that have been taken into captivity so you could be stuck with these newts for over 15 years.

Stuart


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Stupot1610 said:


> You may not mind having boring pets, but please consider the impact of taking newts from the wild. Damp sphagnum moss works well as a substrate and any plants found wild here will be fine with them i.e. Ferns. Please consider other species before taking wild newts. Also take into consideration that you should not re-release wild newts that have been taken into captivity so you could be stuck with these newts for over 15 years.
> 
> Stuart


I am ok with taking them from the wild. Why? Because we have raised frogs multiple times from tadpoles with high survival rates, therefore helping them from this frog disease I have heard about that is killing many of them. Also, we are getting a part of our garden with lots and lots of the flowers bees like to help them. 

Many thanks.


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

I think you're missing the point. Taking newts from the wild can have a detrimental effect on populations, however few are taken. Frogs and newts have *very* different care requirments. You may have raised many frogs from tadpoles, as have I, and I can tell you that newts can be a lot more challenging.
However I can tell you all this, but at the end of the day it's completely your decision so good luck whatever you choose to do  

Stuart


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Stupot1610 said:


> I think you're missing the point. Taking newts from the wild can have a detrimental effect on populations, however few are taken. Frogs and newts have *very* different care requirments. You may have raised many frogs from tadpoles, as have I, and I can tell you that newts can be a lot more challenging.
> However I can tell you all this, but at the end of the day it's completely your decision so good luck whatever you choose to do
> 
> Stuart


Ok. Would it be better to leave them a while to see how many there are, as they are in my garden with a pond. Then let them reproduce in spring then take a single one?


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

The best way to go about it would be to let them reproduce in spring and then take maybe 10 eggs or larvae to grow on, if you end up with too many it should be ok to put some back, or take one or two adults.

Stuart


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Stupot1610 said:


> The best way to go about it would be to let them reproduce in spring and then take maybe 10 eggs or larvae to grow on, if you end up with too many it should be ok to put some back, or take one or two adults.
> 
> Stuart


Ok, many thanks.


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

No problem at all


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## Tommy Coopers Ghost (Sep 14, 2014)

Best to create a wildlife pond, Leave a portion of your garden wild, plant insect Friendly plants, and enjoy newts in your garden... if you have water, they should come in Spring. Mine didnt return to my pond for breeding this year for the first Time, Which shows what a hard Time they are Having. Can you really justify depleting them in the wild any further to keep one as a pet?


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

Tommy Coopers Ghost said:


> Best to create a wildlife pond, Leave a portion of your garden wild, plant insect Friendly plants, and enjoy newts in your garden... if you have water, they should come in Spring. Mine didnt return to my pond for breeding this year for the first Time, Which shows what a hard Time they are Having. Can you really justify depleting them in the wild any further to keep one as a pet?


This is the point I was trying to put across. In the spring there are always newt eggs for sale at very good prices, usually alpine and Spanish ribbed newt eggs and usually cost less than £15 for 20 or so eggs.
But like I said earlier I can't stop you needlessly taking wild animals, I can only advise you to get some captive bred newts.

Stuart


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Is it possible to get the native newts captive bred to buy? If I were to get a newt it would have to be a native one.


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

It is extremely hard to get captive bred native species due to all the licensing required. Why must it be a native species? You shouldn't release them after taking them into captivity, especially for extended periods of time. Alpine newts, though not native, can be found wild in certain areas of the UK but if you got these they can not be released under any circumstances as they are non-native and classed as invasive.

Stuart


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Because I wanted to create a native tank with native plants and native newts. Also, the native ones are small and I really would want small species. Lastly no heater is needed.


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

Alpine newts are small, they don't grow any more than a couple of centimetres more than our native newts. You could easily make a nice native-looking setup with them. There are extremely few newts that need a heater, most will get ill and suffer above 24'c and prefer temperatures from 14-20'c. Room temperature is about 20/21'c 

Stuart


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Stupot1610 said:


> Alpine newts are small, they don't grow any more than a couple of centimetres more than our native newts. You could easily make a nice native-looking setup with them. There are extremely few newts that need a heater, most will get ill and suffer above 24'c and prefer temperatures from 14-20'c. Room temperature is about 20/21'c
> 
> Stuart


Are there any that are the same or even smaller then the small natives?


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

Here are a few with caresheets linked:
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops cyanurus
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Lissotriton (Triturus) boscai
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Mesotriton (Triturus) alpestris


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Ok many thanks. I will do more research on the first two, they are my favourites. How much do they generally cost?


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

The first one _Hypselotriton Cyanarus_ can cost anywhere from £10-£20 I believe. The second, _Hypselotriton Orientalis_ can be found in pet shops for about £5, but I would really discourage buying these for so many reasons. You can find them captive bred for similar prices, keep an eye out in the classifieds section. I made the horrible mistake of buying pet shop ones and out of 7 I managed to keep all of them alive but it took quite some effort. There would be no such problems with captive bred ones. They are also a very fun species and really easy to breed, mine have just started egg laying again which is a fun and interesting process.

Stuart


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

So how much does the second one cost not from pet shops?

I keep telling myself that a snake will be my last tanked creature for a while...looks like newts will be after the snake.:lol2:

So that's 3 soon to be 4 fish/shimp tanks, and soon to have a snake and newts.:2thumb:


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

They would cost about £5-10 captive bred, I would imagine.

Stuart


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

Here's some for sale: CB Chinese fire belly morphs c.orientalis - Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Forum

Stuart


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

There are also carpathian newts _Lissotriton Montadoni_ which I forgot to mention. They are very similar to our native newts. Dartfrog has some for sale just now: Amphibian Pricelist

Stuart


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Alright thanks for all the help Stupot1610 and Tommy Coopers Ghost.

No taking wild newts for me now!:halo:


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## Stupot1610 (Jul 6, 2013)

Good luck, and keep us updated! 

Stuart


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