The Lecture

Bad newt owner! Bad, bad! Research your pet before you get it, not after!

If you found your newt and weren't even looking for it, you're excused. Actually, no, you're not. It's one thing to run home with a new pet and look up how to take care of it. It's quite another to keep it around for a few days before you feel like looking it up, and in the meantime have taken it too far from its home to be able to put it back. There is to be NO newt-collecting on vacation if you don't know how to take care of the newt. If you found a newt because you were looking for it, or if you bought one because it was cute, or if you were suckered into buying one because your child/spouse/hairdresser's dog thought it was cute, DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN! Just be glad it's not a snake. Burmese pythons, for example, are real cute when they're little, but they grow up to be 18 feet long (6 meters or so) and eat bunny rabbits. Or the family dog.

But, again, thanks for taking the time to find out what your little snookums eats. The answer is: Newt food. You can buy it at pet stores.

what to do:
First, read the FAQ. This should answer your most urgent questions. Then go back to the first page of this site and click on the picture that looks most like your newt. Or, use this key:

Taricha newts: 6 in/18 cm. Brown on top, orange underneath. "california" or "oregon" newt.

fire belly. Stop! Don't click that till you read this! It's not a real fire-belly unless it's smaller (nose to tail) than your pinky finger. [actual measurement will depend upon size of pinky finger] A lot of newts are called fire-bellies by people who don't know the difference.

crested newt. Black on top, some reddish color underneath. The same size as a Taricha newt but with more granular-looking skin. The crest only appears on males in breeding season.

Redspotted newt. This one can be either little and orange, or medium sized and green with red spots. If you found it under a rotting log in the eastern US, it's probably this one.

tiger salamander. Big and slimy. Usually with stripes or spots, and not all tiger salamanders look like tigers.

axolotl. aka "Waterdog". Has a fin running the length of its body, and three pigtail-like gills on each side of its head. This isn't the same thing as a mudpuppy, though both are neotenic salamanders.