UK Crested Newts

11/11/2024

The crests are developing quite nicely on most species now.

25/10/2024

These two started life as typical flavistic Triturus carnifex - with dark eyes. Over the last couple of years, for some unknown reason, their eyes have turned pink. They now have the visual appearance (phenotype) of albinos.
They have been paired up for the coming breeding season, to see whether they pass on the trait to their offspring.

17/10/2024

A strange development in the flavistic melanoid carnifex. Melanoids usually have black eyes with no iridescence, but one appears to be developing shiny (iridophore) pigment in the eyes.

07/10/2024

Waiting for the show to start...
The Northern banded newt (Ommatotriton ophryticus) has one of the most extravagant crests in all of newt kind, once in full breeding dress.
This one just entered the water yesterday, and is beginning to show the early stages of crest development.

06/10/2024

It's that time of year again!
Every October these captive bred crested newts begin to develop their crests in preparation for the breeding season - much earlier than their wild counterparts.

05/10/2024

Fire salamander photo shoot!

23/09/2024

As if Hydra weren't already bad enough - killing newt larvae and daphnia, it's now been discovered that they can create cancer!

This Immortal Creature Can Create a Form of Cancer That's Contagious

Do not overfeed.

23/09/2024

Melanoid Flavistic T. carnifex.

20/09/2024

Video update recorded today...

Autumn 2024 update. New additions and projects. Amphibian greenhouse. Preparing animals for winter.Crested newts, fire salamanders, common frogs, common toad...

18/09/2024

Het albino Bufo bufo.

14/09/2024

Many keepers house aquatic snails with their newts. They are useful for eating left over food, and add a bit of interest to the aquariums. You should never get too attached to them though...
Occasionally (and for no apparent reason) a snail that has lived happily alongside the newts for years, will suddenly be ripped from its shell, and become a snack!

11/09/2024

It's incredibly exciting to be recording the development of these flavistic melanoid Italian crested newts for the first time. (A combination morph of two genetic mutations - flavistic and melanoid Triturus carnifex).

31/08/2024

A paper written by Jan Arntzen earlier this year described a new subspecies of marbled newt (Triturus marmoratus harmannis).
The validity of this subspecies has since come under scrutiny from various individuals.
Below are examples of efts of both subspecies in our own collection.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379547489_A_subspecies_of_marbled_newt_Triturus_marmoratus_in_the_Iberian_Peninsula_newly_resolved_from_congruent_nuclear_and_mitochondrial_dna_data

19/08/2024

Gorgeous belly colour! Triturus anatolicus.

09/08/2024

Flavistic melanoid Italian crested newt (T. carnifex).

08/08/2024

Some fantastic colour morphs are coming out of our Rana temporaria colony this year!

05/08/2024

Fire salamanders!
Some photos taken during routine maintenance today.

02/08/2024

Clean-out day for the newt larvae/efts, and a chance for some photos. Still quite a few lagging behind for this time of year, but the recent hot spell has triggered metamorphosis in others.