Easy to find and easy to care for, fire bellied newts are a great choice for a first amphibian pet.
There are two types of fire bellied newts that you may encounter in your local pet shop: Chinese fire bellied newts (Cynops orientalis) and Japanese fire bellied newts (Cynops pyrrhogaster). Both types are dark brown or black on most of the body, with bright orange and red markings on the stomach — hence the name! The Japanese variety has an average length between three and a half and five inches; the Chinese variety is slightly smaller with an average size between three and four inches. The stomach markings on the Japanese fire bellied newt are speckled; the stomach markings on the Chinese fire bellied newt are blotchier.
In the wild, these bright, fire-colored markings are a warning for predators. Fire bellied newts can produce some serious skin toxins and have poison glands on the sides of their heads.
You’ll need to set up a semi-aquatic tank for your fire bellied newts. In the wild, they spend most of their time in the water, but will need a dry area for resting and basking. Some newts do prefer land time to water time, but the majority of fire bellied newts will spend most of their time in the water. You want your tank to be as big as possible — the more space the newts have, the less chance of toxins in the waste building up in the water. As a general rule of thumb, you can keep three or four newts in a twenty gallon tank.
Tank temperatures are relatively cool — fire bellied newts can tolerate room temperature but prefer a slightly cooler temp. Around 68 degrees Fahrenheit/20 degrees Celsius or lower is idea. When temperatures rise above 75 degrees Fahrenheit/24 degrees Celsius, your newts become more susceptible to infection. Your newts won’t need any special lighting — just normal daylight on a regular schedule will do.
At suppertime, your fire bellied newts may like bloodworms, earthworms, brine shrimp, or daphnia. Some newts will also eat floating amphibian stick food. Larger newts may even eat feeder guppies. You don’t have to feed your fire bellied newts every day — every other day or every three days is best. Keep an eye on body condition and how much extra food is left over. Too much food waste can lead to toxin build-up in the tank.