Baby Newts

[Sandyc8557]

Can anyone please provide me with information about the baby newts in my pond - they are common/smooth newts. I have about 15-20 of various sizes, although the biggest is not all that big really - about 1" long. I have put in about 12 or so bags of daphnia, bloodworms and little shrimpy things over the summer, which they have eaten very quickly. Do I need to keep on supplying them with food, or will they find their own? Also, will they stay in the pond over winter and do I need to give them any special assistance?

Any information anyone can provide me with would be most gratefully received. There does not seem to be much information on the Net.

[solus]

Newts arrived at my garden (wildlife) pond all by themselves, have bred and seem to manage very well all by themselves, with no interference from me. I do sometimes have to skim off duckweed or pull out blanketweed (never had that before this year - something to do with last winter??) or remove excess oxygenator. Then I leave it on the edges so any life-form can find its way back into the water but I also tend to search through it by hand first so I can put any newt-lets or frog-lets back myself! Not that I seem to have many frogs since the newts came along to eat the spawn, but hey, that's nature! I am just so thrilled to have frogs and newts and the occasional toad in my sub-urban garden and this summer over a dozen Souther Hawker dragonflies emerged from the pond and lots of Azure damselflies appeared to be laying eggs into the water....

I have never added any larvae, worms or anything else to the water - again, these things seem to arrive of their own accord.

[thunder]

It is unlikely that your young newts will stay in the pond over winter. Mine seem to have left already, though it is hard to be certain as the recent rain has made the water very turbid. I never feed them - they find their own food, though occasionally they take a nip from their smaller brothers and sisters when they get big enoigh to do do.

What part of the country are you in? If it is cold the newts will develop more slowly.

What size is the pond?

henrya

[Sandyc8557]

Thanks for your replies. I live in Bedfordshire and put the pond in last April. It's not very big - about 6ft x 4ft x 2ft deep. The hole for the pond was already there as the previous owners had removed it, but left the hole (and no, they didn't have children!) As I kept finding newts in the garden, I decided to reinstate the pond (for wildlife only). However, I didn't realise that they would reproduce so quickly and profusely! I really want them to have the best chance possible, which is why I'm so worried about them and keep buying them daphnia, etc. They're not expensive, so I don't mind doing it, and the newts love them, but I'm not sure I will be able to buy them in winter. I think I'll keep on buying them 'lunch' for as long as I can, or until they leave the pond. Hopefully I won't end up with giant newts!!!

[Dogghound]

Just to recap the newts are around 1inch long. Can you see any gills? (frilly bits on the head). You need to be very careful when adding food to ponds you can do more damage than is good. I would stop with the daphnia, if you are adding food use bloodworm they will be more benificial to the newts. Stop feeding when it gets cold (frosts start). Are there many invertebrates in your pond already? Sometimes in new ponds when the balance is not there and invert numbers have not built up to a sufficient level amphibians struggle to find food and can develop more slowly, due to this some of yours may overwinter. However there is time left for them to emerge this year.

[Sandyc8557]

Many thanks for this - I didn't realise about the daphnia. The 1" newts do still have gills, but the smaller ones don't (I don't think so, anyway). I have lots of snails and had a couple of beetles. I did have one (poor, sad, lonely) pond skater, but he seems to have disappeared. Yesterday I also discovered a frog in the pond!