i inherited 2 firebellied newts from a friend and they are about 9-10yrs old - im just wondering how long they live for and what i can do to make their enviroment better - their tank seems pretty boring to me - what things (plants etc???) could i add to make it more interesting for them - or are they not bothered much???? anyway here is a pic of them sharing a hug!!! awwww!!!!

They look so cute

do they have water to swim in?

__________________
Wild animals arnt pets! Everyone knows they are there to make clothes with... god i love Fur.

I always recommend Frank Indiviglio's Newts and Salamanders in the Barrons pet series as a guide, as it covers most of the popular species and gives some advice on plants as well.

If this is Cynops pyrrhogaster I would have thought that at least a semiaquatic setup would be needed, if not an aquatic one with some floating islands. Maybe you could try adding half a tank of water in a sort of "shoreline" setup and see how they get on with that? Sorry if you already have got water in it - I can't really tell from the photograph.

Look like Cynops orientalis to me, nice plump female too. To answer your first question anywhere between 5 and 15 years is a good age, they were most probably WC when originally acquired.
They are a mainly aquatic species and can be kept in an aquarium with a few haul out areas in the form of floating cork bark or polystyrene platforms. The water will want to be about 8" deep and kept cool, you'll need to filter it too, a small internal power filter will do fine or an air powered box filter if you'd prefer. You can plant the water with oxygenators such as Elodea and Hornwort, you can also use a few aquarium plants that will tolerate cold water if you prefer, I used to find that my C.orientalis prefered JavaMoss for egg deposition.

__________________
Andrew Tillson-Willis
Pollywog
www.pollywog.co.uk
sales@pollywog.co.uk

please dont panic - there is water in the tank - but i find the newts spend a lot of their time on their beach, floating island or "rocky ledges" - the water is not that deep though - think i will try and get hold of that book you mention and firstly figure out exactly what type of firebellied newts they are - have no idea what sex they are either - jo just told me she didnt know and that they were called "fat b*st*rd" and "skinny"! so not much help from previous owner!!!!! - think improvements definately need to be made!

Do you know whether they're Chinese or Japanese firebellies ? What sort of size are they ?
I have two and I don't think they're bothered by fancies in the tank ! All they need is a floating island, some rocks and maybe a plant. All they really care about is when the next installation of bloodworm is coming !

You can see quite clearly from the photograph that they are Cynops orientalis, for starters pyrrhogaster have rough skin:

__________________
Andrew Tillson-Willis
Pollywog
www.pollywog.co.uk
sales@pollywog.co.uk

magpie - mine sound just like that - the most movement i get out of them is at feeding time!!!! -still would like to get some greenery in there even if its just so i feel better!!!!!

Well it doesn't hurt to have one, a lot of people recommend putting a plant in even if just for decoration. I don't think they eat the plants like axolotls do so it should be ok.

I heard that but mine seem to have a bit of both, I think one of them is smooth but one is rougher. They're both Chinese size though, although as in the original poster's pic, one is a lot fatter (and longer).

__________________
4 degus, Minnie, Winston and their two babies
3 labradors, Kande, Tex & Curly
2 rats, Basil & Snoopy
2 fire-bellied newts, Slinky & Neville
2 normal cornsnakes, Herman & Tiny
2 hamsters, Lilac & Moomin
13 baby hamsters
2 axolotls, Feathers & Murphy
1 black moor goldfish, Moll
1 conure, Pom-pom
1 lionhead rabbit, Bigwig
1 parrot, Bobby
1 garter snake
1 anerythristic cornsnake