Spanish Ribbed Newt Pleurodeles waltl by John F Taylor

Michahelles originally described the Spanish Ribbed Newt Pleurodeles waltl in 1830. These are considered by most to be a “large” Newt. The Spanish Ribbed Newt Pleurodeles waltl is native to the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco in areas, which are known for periodic drought seasons. For a species that is mainly aquatic, this must be a very harsh environment indeed.

Description

Spanish Ribbed Newt Pleurodeles waltl are as I stated a large Newt. They can grow to 12” in the wild. In captivity however they are more apt to be achieve a range of about 8-9”, which is still considerably large for a Newt species. They have an overall dark coloration, is usually dark to light gray with darker irregular blotches, which are a brownish color. The ventral side or belly is usually a lighter cream to yellow color. On the sides of the Newts, they have small orange or yellowish dots. These mark the rib tips and are actually paratoid glands which they can rupture releasing the toxin within to ward of predators hence the name Spanish Ribbed Newt Pleurodeles waltl. They do this without any injury to themselves at all.

Housing

When it comes to housing this particular species, I recommend no less than 10 to 15 gallons per Spanish Ribbed Newt Pleurodeles waltl. A taller and wider tank is preferable to a lower longer one so I would stay away from breeder tanks. If you wanted to keep a trio, I would use a 30-Gallon tank, which measures 36 ¼” by 12 5/8” by 16 ¾”.

Substrate

Once again, I recommend natural looking aquarium gravel that is too large to fit in the mouth of the Newt. This prevents the Newt from ingesting it during feeding.



Décor

When it comes to decorating the enclosure of the Spanish Ribbed Newt Pleurodeles waltl, you must consider whether you want live or artificial plants. Whichever way you choose to go, you should plant very heavily. As I have said elsewhere in this Blog, any of the fish safe aquarium plants will work just fine. If you do choose to go with the live plant route, you must absolutely provide the proper type of lighting. Along with many plants, you also must have some land, floating cork bark pieces, or turtle islands that they can haul themselves out onto. With this species I try to keep a couple of floaters so that there is more than one spot if I am housing more than individual.

Heat

Although this is, a “hardy” species, which can withstand higher water temperatures keeping them above 73˚F constantly, will eventually stress them out to the point of death. Therefore, you as a conscientious herpetoculturist should make every effort to keep them between 68-72˚F during the warmer spring and summer months. During the fall and winter months, you can allow them to drop down to around 55˚ without having to worry about them.

Filtration

As was recommended for the Red-spotted Newt Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens you should have a submersible filter with an adjustable flow on it, which should be turned down to, only allow a 10-20% flow rate.

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