Japanese Fire Belly Newt - in Captivity

In Captivity

Japanese Fire Belly newts prefer aquarium with a small land area to crawl out on and heavy stands of aquatic plants. They do not need any special lighting, but incandescent light can be used. You will need at least a 2.5 gallon terrarium. The best land-water ratio is 1/3 land and 2/3 water, with at least 4 inches in depth. The newts enjoy basking on soft artificial plants, and it is best to have a hiding spot/cave to avoid stressing out the newts. The ideal substrates for a newt terrarium are either any moss besides peat moss, sand, or fairly large gravel (to avoid ingestion). The water should be about 16 - 23°C (60 - 74°F), though these newts can tolerate much higher temperatures than other species. Cynops pyrrhogaster is a very long-lived pet. Its lifespan can exceed 20 years in captivity (possibly longer).

Like other newts, they can be fed commercial pellets or freeze-dried food, but if they refuse these, they should be given live food such as bloodworms, earthworms, mosquito larva, ghost shrimp, nightcrawlers, or pinhead crickets. In order to feed a newt earthworms of any sort, you must chop them into bite sized pieces. Worms can live as long as 8 years if kept at good health, and at least one inch of the clitellum (head) is left. You can either feed by hand, or with tweezers or forceps of some kind. Uneaten crickets must be removed, as they will bite a sleeping newt.

It isn't a good idea to house them with other amphibians other than their own kind because the fire-bellied toad is known to try to eat newts. They may be housed with their close relative, Cynops orientalis but it is not recommended as Cynops pyrrhogaster tends to get larger by at least two inches.