great crested newt

[vinnychameleon]

Hi all main question is anyone know how these guys are doing? a pair were discovered in a pond near me and wondered how they were faring also wondered if theyd use a pond in my garden even if its a fair distance from the pond ther seen is? thanks

[ron1863]

I think Newts can travel a fair distance from water. My friend has a small pond in his garden that he built a few years ago and there is a healthy population of Frogs and Newts in it, yet he is nowhere near a water source.

[wellies101]

Circa 500 metres is thought to be the distance GCN's will travel to find another pond. So if yours is within this range and has no fish, quite possibly they could colonise your pond.

[treecreeper]

The depth of the pond is important. I don't think Great Crested Newts will breed in shallow water.

[Beekeeper]

A friend who is also a wildlife fanatic dug a large pond in his wildlife garden and then stocked it with a few Great Crested Newts from a forest pond, illegal i know but now he has around 40-50 in his pond so it is a great success.

His pond is around probably 3-4 ft deep in the middle and at the edge around 1 ft deep, the pond has a gravel bottom which is quite clean towards the edges but no doubt quite muddy towards the middle.

In another area of his garden he deposited corrugated iron sheets for reptiles to live under, one day he lifted one sheet for me to hopefully get some pictures and there together were one Adder, several Slow worms and probably around 12 Grass Snakes from young to old, all curled up together so it seems they are quite social creatures.

BK

[Bullseye]

GCN make their own choice about breeding habitats,see 5th post down.

Crested newt habitat