How to keep newts

I'm describing here the most common setup needed for the first newt you'll get.

Tank setup:

A 10 gallon aquarium with half land (aquarium gravel) and half water (about 4 in deep).
The setup should include a submersible filter, the package of the filter will say how often you have to change the filter medium. The brand I'm using is called the Shark Internal Filter, ask your pet dealer for more advice on filters.
You should clean the tank and do water changes about once every week or at least every two weeks. Use dechlorinated water (by treating it with dechlorinator drops and/or letting it sit in a bucket for at least 24 hours).
Ventilation is provided by using a screen cover. Newts and salamanders need less air humidity than frogs; they will be OK as long as the substrate is sufficiently moist. You will need to install a relatively tight lid, because newts can climb. They may escape even if you leave only a small gap between the cover and the tank.
Newts like to have caves or other hiding places above and under water. You can create them by using materials like e.g. cork bark, logs, and rocks.

Food:

It is best to feed your newt fresh food like frozen or live bloodworms, tubifex, daphnia, and mosquito larvae. Some newts are only interested in food that wiggles. If you don't have access to live worms, you may try to wiggle some thawed worms in front of the newt's face holding the food with blunt tweezers (i.e. the kind that's round at the end so that your newt doesn't hurt itself). I suggest not feeding your newt brine shrimp too often because they come from salt water. Other food sources are small insects, earthworms, and slugs.

Temperature:

Usually newts do well when you keep them at room temperature not above about 70 degrees fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius). Some newt species need hibernation if you want to breed them.

Light:

Use a low percentage full spectrum light. It is not certain whether UV light benefits the newts, but it will benefit the plants. High doses of UV can be fatal. Use a timer to simulate day and night.

Handling:

Don't touch your newt too often! If you have to handle it, wash your hands before and after! Minerals from your hands may harm your newts; keep your hands wet. Secretions from the newt's mucous glands keep its skin moist. Some amphibian poisons are highly potent, as in the North American newts (Taricha and Notophthalmus). They are contained in their skin. But don't panic, human poisoning does not happen from ordinary handling; the poison must enter through the digestive tract or get into the blood stream.

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swan@newts.org / Last update: May 30, 1998