This article was written as a brief introduction to the species, not as a full care sheet.

This North American newt reaches a length of approximately 5.5". The dorsal coloration varies from olive green to shades of brown. The ventral is always bright yellow with black peppering specks.

This newt's range consists of the entire Eastern United States from Canada, south to Florida. There are many subspecies, but none are as common or widespread as N. V. V. 

These newts have a complex life cycle. They begin life in the water as an egg. Then after hatching spend about 3 months as larvae. After metamorphosis is complete the larvae exit water as "efts". Efts quickly turn a brilliant orange-red. This serves as a warning of the toxicity of these animals. Efts spend 3-4 years on land living a terrestrial life. When the efts reach maturity they return the water to breed. The orange-red color is replaced by the green adult coloration, leaving only small red spots dorsolaterally.

Housing efts is relatively easy. You can either use a simplistic set-up with damp paper towels and a hide, or create an elaborate woodland terrarium. Feeding efts is the hardest aspect of their care. The keeper must provide A LOT of small live foods. Good choices are springtails, flightless fruit flies, pinhead crickets, whiteworms, and small woodlice. Efts will benefit greatly from dusting their foods with calcium/vitamin supplements every third feeding at least.

Adults can be kept fully aquatic all year. The water can be a shallow 6", or up to 2' deep. Live plants serve as natural filters and provide cover and a sense of security. Any other filters are not needed, but a corner sponge-filter seems the only viable option. These newts inhabit still lakes and other quiet waters. The less movement in the water column the better. Substrate is not needed, and indeed bare-bottom tanks are the easiest to maintain cleanliness. If you like to use substrates, sand is superior in both appearance and functionality. Foods cannot escape into the sand bed, and plants root very well there. Feeding adults is an easy job. They will accept garden worms, live brine shrimp, live or frozen bloodworms, live or frozen blackworms, live whiteworms, daphnia, snails, and basically anything appropriately sized and moving!

These newts do best at temps between 60-70F. A drop in temperature down to at least 45f for approximately 3 months is needed to encourage breeding.

CONSERVATION NOTE:

If you are planning on obtaining this species, please pursue captive bred specimens. This ensures that wild populations are not exploited, and also provides the owner with a much healthier captive.