Gatito

A bit of an update for whoever's interested. You'll never guess who's living happily with these guys now. Tank has golden zebra, angelicus and tiger loaches, 3 adult dwarf puffers, 2 gba's, oto's, 2 black line flying fox and.... (drumroll)... 12 tiger barbs. I couldn't believe it, took a lot of deliberation before we tried it, but they're fine, hang out together and everything.

Thank you, the bumps may stand out because of the camera flash - i'll take another without it tonight. i used to have more 2-3 years ago (didn't know what escapists they were back then and lost a couple in the first day or two, and another died who-knows-why about a year ago) and some had the orange stripe on them (were sold to me as juvenile japanese), and some didn't (think i bought them as chinese), so i can't remember whether he had the tail stripe or not. If he was japanese i thought he would have been bigger by now...???? He doesn't seem to want to come onto land to feed - giving him some more fruitflies tonight to see if he's keen, otherwise will use mosquito larvae til i get another whiteworm culture up and roaring. Tried bloodworm yesterday but he wasn't having a bar of it - i'll keep trying, may have to do a deal with the devil for more patience!!!! i used to want to keep them together but i think it would be less hassle not to. then again i could always separate them when they got bigger.

Lol, as soon as the fruitflies are hatching in earnest they start drowning themselves - that's what i mean, i'm wondering if i tap them onto the water surface if the newt will grab them

thanks herperjosh. The divider will have to be about 9cm high, but I was thinking about cutting a slot into a long log so it fits over the edge of the glass. Failing that there will be forked bits of driftwood leading up onto the land area. He really doesn't look like he'll be wanting to use the land much so it will be minimal, just enough to keep some juveniles on if need be. He's always had a generous amount of land AND water, about 50-50, or 25% land. Now that he's decided he likes swimming i've been giving him mosquito larvae, which he LOVES. Do you think he'll still take fruit flies? Maybe snatch them from the water surface?

Hi guys, if anyone can help me ID my firebelly it would be fantastic. 99% sure I have a little chinese because of his size, but i just don't have enough experience with their growth speeds and other differences to be sure. Am i right in thinking those wee bulges on his neck are the parotid glands? And would i be able to sex him at this age by the cloaca? Frederick is about 5cm, and is a couple of years old (just went mostly aquatic a couple of months ago). Uploaded with ImageShack.us Also, could anyone that knows these guys put their 2cents in - i'm going to chuck him in a smaller aquarium for a while (he has a big 60 x 45 x 45cm exo terra that i'm going to silicone a divider into and put plants in a small land area) - what kind of water depth and volume would be a minimum for him? Not that i'm planning on giving him his mimimum requirements but i have quite a few spare tanks and i want to choose one that isn't too small for him. As he has been mostly land-based up until a couple of months ago, i haven't really thought about what water depth and total water volume he needs. Have had a look online and it looks like for volume about 5 gallon per chinese newt is ideal??? And last of all, can the japs and chinese co-exist, or am i right in assuming that the japs will eat the chinese once they (the japs) get big enough? I'm going to hook Frederick up with some buddies asap, so any breeders that have some juveniles or adults available, please flick me a PM or let me know via this thread (livingart I know you had japanese juveniles when i was enquiring before the wedding, do you breed your chinese as well?). And.... end ramble . Thanks everyone!

What is the other Buddy? "work" is Animates in Mt Eden - free bed with dog crate i think.

Thanks - yeah i was wondering where i could keep them outside, out of the sun and out of the rain (haven't seen the backyard at our new place yet). The exo terra would start losing water once it filled up to the doors, so wouldn't flood more than i let it with placement of rockwork, driftwood etc, but best to avoid mini-natural disasters altogether IMO :lol: Mr Newt enjoys a bit of a shower but rapids aren't really his thing - he doesn't own an inner tube for starters! And the lid of the terrarium is mesh so would make quick work of rusting that out. Worst case scenario he can stay inside, at least til i sort out suitable shelter. Thanks for answering my question!!!

*gasp!* how dare you!! Not all rottis have fat round faces and short muzzles!!! Yeah he has a snaggletooth, always catching his lip on it Uploaded with ImageShack.us

It's an exo-terra, very secure unless someone were to come onto the property and tamper with it. And my newt is about 5cm and won't get over about 10cm, so the terrarium is massive for him. When he reaches adult size i'll want to give him something with a deeper water body though, as the exo terra is only watertight up to about 12cm deep.

Oh wow, can't wait to try this recipe

I'm not going to add to the discussion on Holly's injury, except to say poor, poor girl and i agree that blame can not be attributed to one particular person or factor. Thought i'd join Morcs in sharing a photo. This is me and my boy with an owner (cut out) and rotti pup that came in for the promo. All together now, AWWWWWWWW!!! Dash wont be back in store for a little while, but usually would be there every weekday shift with me, being an ambassador for rottis .

love that driftwood, nice tank. my malabars are jealous

sorry for your loss phoenix44

what an awesome photo! exciting thread (dork much, me?)

Spud the Alexandrine came and spent some time with us at work yesterday. His girlfriend (both aged about 3 years) is my cockatiel Buddy, who is a tad too humanised - she ignores other birds, LOVES people and has recently started inviting humans to mate :roll: . However she doesn't seem to mind Spud's doting affections, and she tells us off when we try to end the date. He can't decide whether to dance for her or groom her, and it's adorable, so I thought i'd share. Thanks Moya, looking forward to the next visit (p.s. was good to you again as well)!

That's so cute that it carries the shell around!!! Mine never did that. You should set up a little tank and throw some ramshorns and the other little annoying ones (kind of an oval shaped shell?) in there - they'll breed like... well, snails and you'll end up with an ongoing supply and VERY happy loaches

That's awesome herperjosh, i'm looking at getting a bluey at some point and i found it really informative, easy to read and understand, and also very thorough without being long-winded. It would prove useful for everyone from the complete beginner, to even teaching current skink owners something new. I love how you've compared the different substrates, giving the pros for each one so the reader can make an informed decision, rather than a care sheet saying "use this, it is best, full stop". As part of your notes on behaviour, it might be interesting to mention how they interact in species groups - what the advantages and disadvantages are of having one bluey as opposed to two, or a trio, or (dare i say it) more? to all who contributed, for all the above reasons

I have a big exo terra terrarium for the newts, 61cm x 45cm and 45cm high. We're moving and i'm trying to figure out if I want to take the big terrarium with me or flick it off and get a smaller one. Would Mr Newt be happy outside or would it get TOO cold? Would be ok in summer so long as he doesn't get too warm, but i'm not sure about the colder months.

Yes i love hunting for them at night when they've gone to rest somewhere! Very cute. Mine live with loaches (golden zebra, angelicus, another variety similar to the angelicus, and one i have no clue on), and some oto's. They pay no notice to them, but went nuts over a betta i placed in a cage inside their tank briefly. Maybe I could get another tank ready, and try the ghost, but be ready to rescue him if they have a go.

thanks, but "need" would be very figurative indeed, as in "i NEED to get that ghost knife but the puffs will eat him!". Working on hubby, i'm sure just one more tank will be the go eventually, but every now and then i think about moving them on to avoid flaring up the MTS :lol:

i have 2f 1 m adults but no time to breed. considering rehoming them to get a ghost knife so will let you guys know if i end up wanting to move them on (not allowed another tank)

Thanks for your input guys! I'm looking into bribing some mates to go hunting for me. I don't want to hook them so it'll be a net catch most likely. They're going into a pond with lot's of hiding spots for security but a nice grunty filter - i just hope they don't decide to scale the rocky side or slither up the waterfall (very agile!). Hoping to set a routine for them and eventually get them hand-feeding

Thanks guys, yeah we used to use a hook and line when we were kids, i think i'd rather buy a net trap for them. So looks like i'll be doing that and spending the day out there. Will have fingers crossed for little guys, would love to have biggies to hand feed but in a smaller volume like a pond the smaller they are the better for them. Thanks all of you for the input, i'll update once i manage to find time to get out and go eeling!!!

Oh yeah, that would be pretty typical of them. If prior experience is any indication, so long as they have good water quality, food source and nice hiding places, they should be content to stay. Could be a problem in summer when it gets warmer, they may go to land hunting for a colder water body, but most of the pond is in the shade, so i think it would stay cold enough for them.

I'd like to get my hands on 3-4 eels for a pond (has filter & a waterfall at one end, plants, planning to pop some ceramic tunnels in there for hiding spots). I was wondering if anyone had any ideas or could help? We have a pretty good creek for finding them on another property, but setting traps and going back the next morning would consume more time than i have spare at the moment. If anyone can help please Pm me or reply here.