Newts?

[Orthodox Andrew]

Could somebody anwser a few questions for me on newts?

1. How strong is there bite? And what defenses do they have?

2. What do they live in? And how ofter do you have to clean it? And does their livng area have strong odor?

3. Do they carry diseases?

4. Are they easy to handle?

 

[ORCALOVER]

what species of newt?

 

[draper]

1. How strong is there bite? And what defenses do they have?

Well, I guess it'd vary species to species. The most commonly available ones I'd have to say no bite at all, or a weak one if at anything. Not sure exactly what you mean by defenses, but nothing harmful to humans (or other pets, not that a dog would ever interact with a newt LOL)

2. What do they live in? And how ofter do you have to clean it? And does their livng area have strong odor?

Hmm, usually aquariums (as do most reptiles & amphibians)...though I recently bought for my marble salamander what is like an aquarium, only plastic, thus making it a LOT cheaper & easier to move about.

Some newts (ie Oregon & Firebelly newts) need a portion of the tank (usually 1/3 to 1/2) to be all water, though others (ie Emperor Newts) don't need actual water to bathe in. One that needs water would need the water cleaned every, say, 4 days to a week (just a guess...it varies) or maybe you could get a filter? Not sure about the filters, they may hurt the newts.

As for odours, I personally don't get one from my animals though I've been told they give off one

3. Do they carry diseases?

They shouldn't. Just pick a good store (ie one that specializes in amphibians and reptiles) or just a good pet store, you'll be abe to tell. Based on a bad experience I had, I'd advise you not to get your newts from a store specializing in [pet] fish though...but again, its your judgment, if a fish store looks like its newts are good, get them there then. Another tip would be to pick them out from a store that only has a few (ie maybe 7 or less) newts in a tank...the less there are, the less chance there'd be something wrong with them.

Though before I scare you, I should emphasise that any diseases newts carry are highly unlikely to be remotely harmful to humans.

4. Are they easy to handle?

Easy? Yeah. Though with amphibians its not recommended that you handle them more than you have to (ie for cleaning purposes etc), as their skin is spongy and they absorb salts on the human hands which are bad for them.

If you want a similiar animal you can handle a lot, try a Leopard Gecko. Not an amphibian, but they're very nice pets and especially good for beginners, mostly because they're very low maintence (waaay less than with newts) and they're pretty animals. Google for some pics if you want

 

[Orthodox Andrew]

ORCALOVER. I'm not really sure.

draper, thanks for all that wonderful info! You sure helped a lot.

 

[Daughter of His]

Newts are great low mainence pets. Ours are in an aquarium that also has rocks so they can get onto the rocks if want. You have to beware they are always thinking up ways to escape and if you have other pets that might eat them it can kill them. Happened to a cat, I heard about it. The Chinese firebelly is poisonious but only if injested. They did bite a couple of times, felt like a paper clip or something on my finger, they just wanted to be fed quickly. Oh, if you are going to handle them make sure you don't have soap on your hands it can harm them. One of ours was named Houdini, it wasn't a good idea because he made good on the name and we never could find him and glad the dog didn't either. They are very amusing--hope you have lots of fun with them.