Newts

[Headfry]

when is the best time to see newts!
desperate to have them in my pond?

[Madasafish]

In Oxford from now I would guess. here we are further North and 200 metres above sealevel plus near Peak District so March ..

[SueA]

I was reading about newts the other day & apparently they are becoming active in ponds around now but from about June onwards you don't tend to see them as they spend most of their time on land in the undergrowth.

[Paul Wagland]

Jeannine rescued a Great Crested from our chickens last weekend. We bought the eggs online, hatched and raised them and released them into the garden. I'm setting up the aquarium for another season - might try Natterjack toads as well...

[jeannine]

If you build a pond it's amazing how quickly amphibians just appear, frogs turned up in the pond on my old lottie the day I filled it with water!

I'm guessing newts are probably still hibernating at the mo - the only one I've seen so far this year was when I moved a garden pot, but I've seen quite a few frogs, so I wonder if newts get active a bit later?

If anyone wants to try raising frogs or newts you can buy eggs from a Dr called Charles Snell who has a license to sell them - if you google him you'll get his details. As Pigletwillie said the other day, they are the best slug deterrent going!

[nick the grief]

I found Tiny in my greenhouse last summer. I called him Tiny cos he's My newt (Minute get it)

[blackkitty]

One of the best ways to get newts is to have star wort or water forget me not in the pond as they lay their eggs on the leaves.

[AllieB]

Newts should come into ponds around mid-March but will leave the ponds by mid-June. I seem to recall that the night temperatures need to be consistantly over 5 degrees for the the newts to come out of hibernation.

[Headfry]

Thanks for all your help. I'm of to the nursery to but water forget me not!
Do newts need any special conditions in the pond?
If I buy eggs, what do I need to do to make sure they survive and thrive?
How do they get there in the first place?
I am a newt a holic...started when I was about 11, we would go 'newting' in a local pond (much to my horror now) and I would take home a couple (more horror). My mum came to tuck me up one night and to her horror she found a newt wrapped in wet toilet paper in my hand next to my open mouth as I slept.
I would never dream of taking things plant or animal form the wild now, but in those days all the children did it, and boys would be collecting birds eggs!!! thank goodness things have changed. Though on the flip side both my brother and I developed an enormous love of nature conservation from those early days of taking from the wild.

[jeannine]

If they like the conditions in your pond then newts may just magically appear and start breeding - if there are any in your area.

Alternatively, if you want to buy the eggs from Charles Snell, you need to set up a tank in advance (ideally with some plants in and a filter). You can put daphnia in the water for them to eat and rear them in there until they are a bit bigger and you can put them in the pond. Paul found a huge tank at a boot fair for a fiver!

It's absolutely amazing watching the newts grow and seeing them develop, but it's nerve-wracking when you set them free in the big wide world!

In the first year I had my pond, I bought 10 eggs and put them straight in, and they seemed to do ok, but that's not recommended once your pond is established and you've got voracious beasts like dragonfly larvea in there, they can probably eat 10 tadpoles or newts a week! Having said that, I love seeing the dragonfly nymphs too.

Ponds are addictive, I find it all too easy to sit and gaze at the water for hours when I should be doing more useful jobs!

[Headfry]

Jeannie- I too sit there for hours..... not a lover of the dragonfly larvea....look like nasty little beasties, that want to bite your finger off! dragonflies are good though. We had some damoselles one year....these I really love!

[jeannine]

I wonder if a dragonfly larvae would give you a nasty nip? it's amazing how they can shoot their jaws forward like an alien. I've even seen water boatmen attack baby newts, ponds are dangerous places for small critters.

[annafricangrey]

newts also need lots of hiding places, ideally under rocks paving slabs etc

mine seemed to love the alchemilla mollis last year, we often found them quite high up on the leaves, we keep a 'tread free zone' at the back of the pond where no child is allowed to roam and have also put a toad 'hotel' in there (bricks to form a tunnel for hiding in)


they are really sweet, i love newts and all ours are called tiny cos my hubby loves the joke 'why is he called tiny?

because he's my newt (minute)

ann

[ericajones80]

my newt...thats cute!

[Headfry]

There seems to be a lot of newt lovers here! I thought I was the only one....big sigh of relief from Mrs HF.....wonder why we love newts so much!