Raising Eastern Newts from eggs. What is working, and what is not.

I wanted to post here what I have done and what I am doing to raise eastern newts form eggs.
Feel free to comment with further suggestions of things I could be doing different.
I'm hoping someone can learn from my mistakes.

I have 2 females and 1 male eastern newt kept together. I work for a science academy. As one of the kids projects they built a 10 gallon temporary tank for one of the female newts. After a few days she began to lay eggs on the fake plants in that 10 gal aquarium. The artificial plants were removed and placed in a separate 10 gal aquarium with guppy weed and sponge filter and Ramshorn snails. They began to hatch on 3/24/22.
They were not intentionally bred, and I had no experience prior to this.

As they hatched they were placed in medium Kritter Keepers (1.75gal) with about 2" of water in groups of 5. Guppy weed, daphnia, and snails were added to the containers as well.
I am only able to come into work M-F, and was doing water changes MWF. On top of caring for the other 200 animals in my care I needed something easier to maintain.
I then moved 36 of them into this breeding tower to hopefully make water changes easier.



A total of 50 hatched out.
This is what they looked like at hatching.



The other 14 were left in the full 10 gal with the guppy weed and bubbler. I put daphnia in there and then simply ignored it for a very long time. I did not ever do water changes on it and only topped it off with more RO water.
In the "newt tower" they were able to flow down into the bottom chamber and swim freely between cells.
I fed infrequently (MWF), and mostly daphnia with occasional instant BBS (Ocean Nutrition).
The newts in the tower grew MUCH slower than the newts in the tank.

At this point the tower newts were still only 1cm while those in the tank were at least 2x the size, at nearly 1".


At this point I gave away all 25 of the remaining newts from in the tower to other hobbyists on Caudata.org.
I do not know what happened to the other 16 that were placed in the tower. I never found any deceased newts, so I assume they cannibalized one another.

To prevent this from happening further I took the remaining 14 newts in the 10gal and placed each one in a 16oz deli container with guppy weed and pieces of the artificial plant from their cycled tank on Friday.
At this time I fed each one with a small amount of instant BBS and daphnia.

When I came back on Monday 3 were deceased. I placed the largest newt back in the original 10 gal hoping that he would be fine in there alone. I immediately did 100% water change on the remaining 10 newts and then floated the containers in a larger Rubbermaid tote full of water so that the temperature would remained more stable.

On Tuesday (5/31) morning 2 more were deceased. I was panicked. I placed one more in the 10 gal (2 total). The other 7 I placed in size matched pairs in Large Kritter Keeprs (3gal) with 2 inches of water in the bottom. I then placed more guppy weed, the artificial plant pieces. Ramshorn snails, daphnia, and a few pieces of gravel from other established tanks. I then placed bubbler line in each tank and placed a fan over all the tanks to lower the temperature slightly.
I think that the instant BBS could have been part of the problem, so I placed only daphnia and a few blackworms in the tanks.


Today I did a 80% water change and all of 7 newts in the kritter keepers were alive and well.
one of the newts in the 10gal was deceased and the other appeared bloated and lethargic, I am not optimistic for his survival given the events of this week.
While the newts had not been in the tank I was dumping the extra instant BBS and daphnia in there to keep it cycled. This may have caused there to be too much ammonia in the water. or they could have eaten some spoiled BBS.
I removed all debris and did a 80% water change on the 10 gal. in hopes that that newt will pull through. I will not be using instant BBS in the future.

I will try to post updates occasionally on this thread and welcome any feedback on my current set up.

Today the other newt from the 10 gallon ended up passing away, I suspect that it was difficulty recovering from the ammonia or ingestion of the spoiled BBS.
All 7 remaining newts appear healthy and active.
I added duckweed to all 4 containers yesterday.

Add some Oak leaves

Methos5K said:

Add some Oak leaves

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I just added some to each. Just curious, are the leaves just for the tannins? Would Indian almond leaves work the same? If not, what is special about oak leaves?

I am frustrated and confused. I did a water change and everything seemed fine Friday night but when I came in Monday morning two of them in the same tub were dead and on in another of the tubs was floating. This morning that newt was also dead and his tank mate was floating. I am down to 4 newts total. Water quality is all good and water temp is between 63-65F. I am only feeding daphnia and blackworms at this time. Is there an illness that causes baby newts to float? Is there a treatment or preventative?

Did some reading. Because the newts have been dying in batches with near 100% mortality rate in the container once one newt dies I am suspecting that it is likely infectious.
The first person who I gave newt to do not have this problem.
The second person I gave newts to lost all of them within 48hrs with similar symptomology.
In between giving these two individuals the newts, I did have what presented as a fungal or bacterial infection with my African clawed frogs.
One frog passed, but the others were successfully treated with Kanaplex. (broad spectrum antibacterial and antifungal)
I am suspicious that this somehow got into the newt tubs.

I did a post mortem exam on the newt that passed this morning. They have a fuzzy white appearance almost immediately.
I removed the deceased newts left front limb to be examined under a microscope.
The images are attached showing the following magnifications 0X, 1X, 10x, 40X, 100X, 100X. No stain was used.

They show an unspecified fungus.
I treated all 3 tubs with a 1/2 dose of Kanaplex, due to potential cross contamination with contaminated equipment.

I will continue to monitor and cross my fingers that some pull through. I continue to be welcome to advice or encouragement from others who have seen this before.

And then there were three.

The one who was exposed by his tankmate passed over the weekend. Water changes and retreatment with 1/2 dose of Kanaplex were preformed today.
The remaining newts appear to be in good condition.

Several year back when I caught my Ambystoma texanum tadpoles, I went through a similar situation. I started with seven, but then they began to get sick and die. Each time it was the same, first they'd float and then they'd develop a white fuzz or film on them before dying within a day. After the third death, I suspected that there was likely some sort of fungal infection in the water. My assumption was that it was originated with the frozen bloodworms I supplemented their diet with. At that point I moved them out of the tank and into separate containers with fresh water and switched to only feeding them live food, mosquito larvae in my case. After that they were fine and they're all still alive and well today.

BMM22 said:

Several year back when I caught my Ambystoma texanum tadpoles, I went through a similar situation. I started with seven, but then they began to get sick and die. Each time it was the same, first they'd float and then they'd develop a white fuzz or film on them before dying within a day. After the third death, I suspected that there was likely some sort of fungal infection in the water. My assumption was that it was originated with the frozen bloodworms I supplemented their diet with. At that point I moved them out of the tank and into separate containers with fresh water and switched to only feeding them live food, mosquito larvae in my case. After that they were fine and they're all still alive and well today.

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I'm really glad to hear that.
Since treatment with the Kanaplex I have not lost any more larvae and they are back to growing and eating well. I am starting to become more optimistic for their survival.

I am pleased to report that all three newts are still growing and eating well. They are housed in Medium Kritter Keepers with about 2" of water. They have Indian Almond leaves, guppy weed, duckweed, cork bark floats, Ramshorn snails, and some aquarium gravel in the setups. Using a fan the water temp stays about 65F. They are eating Daphnia and cut up blackworms now and are growing well, they are about 3.5cm and 3.5 months old as of today.

They really are starting to look like miniature adult Eastern Newts!
They are 4cm long now and are all doing great. Does anyone have tips on what a good setup looks like for metamorphosis?

I recently heard that some of the newts from the same clutch left the water. Than combined with shrinking gills means it was time for a new home. All three are about 4.5cm long now and look great.


Here is the setup I am going to try for now:
Let me know if anyone has any suggestions.
I took a 20gallon long tank and found a plastic paint tray that fit in really nicely.

I washed/ rinsed everything well. Paint tray is made of PET (PETE) plastic, which is considered food safe, and I added a some water conditioner just to be safe.
I then packed Ecoearth under and around the paint tray so that there was a deep end and a shallow end.
I added all the plants/ décor from their separate bins together. (duckweed, guppy weed, Indian almond leaves, cork bark floats, small amount of aquarium gravel and 2 Ramshorn snails)

Lastly I placed a piece on unbleached paper towel over the lip of the tray onto the ecoearth.
I threw some décor onto the terrestrial side for now so that it doesn't look so bear, and will make that better over the next few days.
I then moved them back to the same spot under the fan and put the bubbler line into the deep end of the tray.

Here's to hoping for the best!

It has been two weeks since they were placed in the new setup and things are going well so far, the water is shallower than it was in the Kritter Keepers, so I have to replace it more often and watch to make sure it does not evaporate too much with the fan. All 3 are still in the water and are doing well. I did add some Java Moss near the transition area to make it even easier to crawl out. They are all about 5mo old and approaching 5cm. Still eating just blackworms and daphnia, my white worm cultures are now established enough that I can begin to introduce those to them as well soon.

Now, all we do is wait.

I have not raised this species from eggs though i have kept adults in the past. I have successfully raised numerous species in the past so take my advice as general rather than species specific advice.
There are two main ways to raise phib larvae, high and low maintenance.
High maintenance Raising baby axolotls with baby brine shrimp (bbs) . This method generally involves the use of baby brine shrimp. The shrimp die in fresh water and screw your water quality so need daily 100% water changes, they also cause a bacterial slime to form on the bottom of the container, this is the probable cause of death in larvae around week two if its not removed. Most larvae can be reared this way but a few species do better in a low maintenance set up.
Low maintenance, you essentially set up a cycled environment to mimic a natural environment. Gravel, sand or mud substrate. Hides, plants, possibly light aeration. Live food only such as daphnia, moina, hog lice, mossy larvae, black worm etc these will not impact water quality like brine shrimp. Stocking density is lower to reduce the impact on water quality, the plants deal with the nitrates to keep water quality high.
I normally use high maintenance set ups for species with high numbers such as axolotl , which can number in hundreds, this is purely down to how much daphnia i can produce. With lower numbers i prefer low maintenance as its a load less work and produces quality animals
.

Thanks @xxianxx ! I unfortunately had to learn that hard way with baby brine shrimp, and lost most of this clutch. Switching to live food and plants has made a world of difference.


All three are still doing great!
They are all still aquatic and have all passed the 5cm mark.
Their gills have shrunk quite a bit and their bellies have turned form yellow to orange.


White waiting, I have stocked the land side with white worms, springtails and isopods.
It's hard remaining patient for them to move onto land

It's a Halloween miracle!
All 3 of the newts have completely lost their gills and are climbing onto land. They are each about 6cm long and 7mo old.



Their color has changed again to be much lighter and more drab. They still have bright orange bellies though.
They are being kept in a 20g long with ecoearth as a substrate.
They have a deep reptile water dish with the duckweed, snails, guppyweed, cork flats, Indian almond leaves, rocks, blackworms, and daphnia.
I have also placed an airstone in the dish that goes on and off every 15 minutes.
I have also built a automatic water dish refiller out of an unused reptifogger bottle to ensure that the water level stays consistent in the bowl.
On the land side of have moist Indian almond leaves and unbleached paper towels under a reptile hide.
I have planted the tank with grass seed, and golden pathos.
I have a population of springtails, isopods, and whiteworms that live in the tank and an feeding some flightless melanogaster.



I am very proud of these little guys and how far they have come.
There have been a lot of learning opportunities for me along the way and I remain open to any suggestions on better care.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me learn what I know now.
I would not still have these little guys if it wasn't for this community.
Thank you.

I did not think they could get any more adorable. I was wrong. Look at those tiny feet



Does anyone else who has their tank stocked with various forms of food have a way of checking if the newts are all eating?
I am keeping an eye of their size. They all seem fat and happy, so I am fairly confident that they are eating.

Hi!
Checking to see how your newts are doing and if eggs larvae become available again?

DocNockboots said:

Hi!
Checking to see how your newts are doing and if eggs larvae become available again?

Click to expand...

Thanks for checking in!
Out of the original trio all three are doing well and today 2 of them were shipped to another newt enthusiast.

Since these guys first hatched, I have discovered three larvae of various sizes in the tank with the adults. All three of those are also doing well.
I changed the adult newt tank a little while back in the hope that it would encourage more breeding behavior so that I can get another clutch.
At this moment, I am planning on keeping the efts and larvae in my possession.

Excellent news on the little dudes!
Glad to hear your colony is thriving!
Thanks for documenting your experience it’s very informative.

Understood!
Thanks anyhow