Great Crested Newts

[ian at lings]

I found these two last week and was concerned that one of them looked pretty strange. I'm assuming that the smaller (& plumper) one is a female and the long thin streak is a male. Is the thin one ill, short of food or is it normal for males to look this way at this time of year? GCNs I've seen previously have been considerably plumper.
Many thanks
Ian

[fairplay]

I have concerns about these photo's - would young GCN's behave in this way i.e. be exposed in the open at the mercy of prey species and photographers.

Obviously being cold blooded, they need to warm up in the sun, but this openly ?

Apologies if this is their normal behaviour.

Neil.

[Dogghound]

NOTE: I know you may not have done this, or are about to do this, but its ilegal to handle these or keep them in captivity. However you are allowed to keep a disabled newt in the view of restoring it to full health and releasing it when its recovered.

The top newt is in good health and is a female.

The bottom newt looks very malnourished, and is not to healthy. It may have a disease or infection, there are no physical injurys to it. Its the time of year when they should really be bulking up abit.

[ian at lings]

Whilst your suggestion that these newts are not naturally this exposed is correct you do not need to be concerned about their welfare. They were found unexpectedly in a pile of rubble in a woodland whilst searching for ground beetles. The pile was lovingly re-constructed and the newts replaced within just a few minutes without any predators gaining access to them. They were photographed in this few minutes whilst my colleague was replacing rubble and making sure the pile was stable before letting the newts find their way back in.
Now that we know they are likely to be in the rubble pile it will remain undisturbed & we will keep an eye on the nearby ponds for GCN activity in the breeding season.
Cheers
Ian

[Hedge Witch]

The hind toes don't look right on the "malnourished" one - I read somewhere that this is an early sign of a certain disease (virus?) in frogs - I'm wondering if GCNs can get the same thing?

[Dogghound]

Possibly Metabolic Bone Disease Hedge witch, not sure if this one has that though.

[Hedge Witch]

Hi - I was thinking about this article:

BBC News | SCI/TECH | Mystery virus ravages UK frogs

The animals' paws and feet drop off and they die a protracted and painful death. But money to research the outbreak and possible remedies has run out.

But if you read to the end, it is not thought to affect newts

[Hedge Witch]

BUT, then again, it depends what you read

Can it (Ranavirus) occur in any other species of amphibian?

Ranavirus is not just restricted to frogs, it can also occur in the Common Toad and in all three newt species.

This strain should not affect fish although ranaviruses have been linked to fish deaths.