newt ID please?

kaitkaitkait · #1 (**permalink**) 05-06-2007, 12:46 PM

I think it might be a female palmate newt (it isn't much longer than 2 and a half inches) but I'm not sure. Can anyone please ID this lovely thing for me? Taken in the big pond an hour or so ago. So excited!

Lance Morgan · #2 (**permalink**) 05-06-2007, 01:03 PM

Yes female palmate

kaitkaitkait · #3 (**permalink**) 05-06-2007, 01:18 PM

Yessssssssssssss! *thumps the sky*

Thank you, Lance!

JoeF · #4 (**permalink**) 06-06-2007, 06:56 PM

Nice pics, and a good find. It always amazes me how these delicate looking things manage to cover so much ground to find a pond. Look out for a male now! Main difference is an orange streak to the tail but the real give away at this time of year are the black webbed hind feet.

Joe

moocho · #5 (**permalink**) 07-06-2007, 09:17 AM

Hi,
Does the smooth newt have an orange streak to their tail or is it just the palmate?
Sorry Kaitkaitkait for asking on your post, also i have found some more baby newts with their feathered gills in a plastic container, i had put some plants from the pond as it was getting overgrown with the plants.
There are about six babies that i can see, there are lots of water fleas, mozzie larvae, baby water snails, water lice and some very tiny black square like creatures. Do i also leave the newts in the container till they are bigger or put them in the pond?
The pond has lots of newts, water snails, water fleas, water lice etc and a couple of frogs.
Would the adult newts eat the babies?
Sorry for my long post.

Sarah.

kaitkaitkait · #6 (**permalink**) 08-06-2007, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeF

Nice pics, and a good find. It always amazes me how these delicate looking things manage to cover so much ground to find a pond. Look out for a male now! Main difference is an orange streak to the tail but the real give away at this time of year are the black webbed hind feet.

Joe

I've seen the male! A little shorter, and much more colourful, and with a sort of straight "barb" at the end of his tail. He's so beautiful it's breathtaking, but no photos as yet - what an elusive chap, he clearly won't wait for me to get the camera.

Both male and female were spotted sauntering around the pond bottom together today. Does this mean they are a pair? Do newts pair off... or is it a free-for-all like those moraless toads?

kaitkaitkait · #7 (**permalink**) 08-06-2007, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moocho

Hi,
Does the smooth newt have an orange streak to their tail or is it just the palmate?
Sorry Kaitkaitkait for asking on your post, also i have found some more baby newts with their feathered gills in a plastic container, i had put some plants from the pond as it was getting overgrown with the plants.
There are about six babies that i can see, there are lots of water fleas, mozzie larvae, baby water snails, water lice and some very tiny black square like creatures. Do i also leave the newts in the container till they are bigger or put them in the pond?
The pond has lots of newts, water snails, water fleas, water lice etc and a couple of frogs.
Would the adult newts eat the babies?
Sorry for my long post.

Sarah.

I had newt hatchlings in a container too, and waited til they'd all hatched (or at least I could see no more eggs) before putting them into the pond today. I wanted to give them all a chance to survive, but really couldn't bring myself to keep them in the container in this heat.

As far as I know, frogs will eat newt tadpoles and so will carnivorous insects... but at least if they're hatched and can swim, they have a good chance of survival.

Good luck with your hatchlings!

m1.carson · #8 (**permalink**) 09-06-2007, 08:41 AM

Hi,

Oh blow, now I've got to find out the difference between a smooth and a palmate, for years I've thought we had smooths.

Max.

kaitkaitkait · #9 (**permalink**) 10-06-2007, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m1.carson

Hi,

Oh blow, now I've got to find out the difference between a smooth and a palmate, for years I've thought we had smooths.

Max.

There are quite a few images in the galleries here, and I also used ARKIVE.org - they have a few film clips for comparison.

moocho · #10 (**permalink**) 10-06-2007, 12:12 PM

Hi Kaitkaitkait,
I have put all the baby newts that was in the container in the pond, there was a lot more babies than i thought.
I had put some more plants in the pond and then put the babies in, then i saw the adult newts hunting them, there are a lot of adults in my small pond.
I felt that i have just sent them to their death! so i put some fish food in which the adults started to eat. Think i will leave any more that i missed in the container to get bigger, there is plenty of food, daphina, baby snails, mozzie larvae, lice, and other things.
Fingers crossed some will survive.
Sarah.