How to Make Ramp for Newts

I have 3 adult Eastern (or Red-spotted) newts in my paludarium since September 2022.

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They are very cute newts in the last aquatic stage of development.

The same Red-spotted newts live on the land while they are in their earlier - terrestrial stage of development known as Efts.

Interestingly, my aquatic newts climb out of the water during transportation as shown in the first video.

So, young or adult, Red-spotted newts need water and land with easy ways to get between those parts.

I set up the paludarium with a hanging platform for terrestrial newts (Efts) to live and hunt on.

The land platform is already fully prepared for Efts, if I ever get them :)

I grow live mosses, plants, Isopods and Springtails on the land part.

Here you can see tiny moving dots - those are Springtails.

And Isopods should be somewhere here too...here is one.

My aquatic newts enjoy greatly feeding on land Isopods fallen in water.

I will explain in more details about feeding land Isopods to newts in a different video.

Now I want to show the ramps I prepared for newts to get in and out of the water.

A stripe of perforated silicon can serve as a soft ramp or ladder if you wish.

Let's hang this stripe on the land platform at the spot where newts may like it.

Here is a newt by the opening in the platform - patiently waiting in an ambush for isopods.

Clear the land platform in the spot to put the silicon stripe on.

Place the stripe on the platform making the ends of the stripe hanging about an inch in the water.

Cover the stripe with moss or some flat rock.

This silicon stripe can hold much heavier weight than a dozen of adult Red-spotted newts.

Now I see a bunch of Isopods hiding under the bark and potatoes.

Isopods have been doing well in this environment.

So, we can use soft ramps to make multiple access points for newts to climb in and out of the water.

Also, we can use wire to make a much sturdier ramp.

 In this example I use a wired hanger for this purpose.

Put the wire in a silicon tubing to isolate the wire from water.

Bend the wire to make a ramp of desirable shape.

In this example I am making the ramp in the shape of letter M - with two access points.

Remember to seal the ends of the tubing to prevent water from getting in the tubbing.

I also want to wrap a silicon stripe around the wired ramp to make it easier for newts to climb on.

I am making this ramp wide enough for one newt to climb at a time.

With three newts in the tank I don't expect too much traffic on the ramp :)

Here you can see the already prepared ramp.

I am going to hang this ramp on the front side for you to see it.

It's always better to place the ramp in the spot where newts are seen climbing out - SheShy climbed on my finger in this corner.

Newts are very observant and curious about everything surrounding them.

I see one newt come to check the ramp right away.

Just looking - not touching it yet.

It is a male newt.

Making this wired ramp may seem like a lot of work to do.

And I totally agree with you about that.

As a matter of fact, there is no need in making any ramp in this paludarium at all.

I see another newt come to check on what's new in this corner of the Newts world.

It is SheShy! my most friendly female newt.

And I see the third newt a bit further behind SheShy.

Newts are very observant and curious pets.

And the installation of this ramp certainly sparked a lot of interest among newts.

But let's get to the point.

What is the purpose of building any ramp for a hanging land platform?

Look - the platform by itself is the ramp.

Just add water to a desirable level for making it easier for newts to climb right on the platform.

Here you can see the soft ramp, the platform edge and the wired ramp - all offer the same accessibility.

Just added water to the level of the platform - no need for any ramp at all.

Also, the level of the platform can be adjusted by the length of the hangers.

Let's put about an inch longer hangers on the front of this platform for an example.

It's a bit awkward for me to work with one hand while holding a camera with another hand :)

But either way it takes seconds to make these adjustments as you can see.

As a result I have the whole front side of the right platform serving as a ramp.

Ta-dam!

The hanging land platform is the ramp.

Here you can see SheShy, the female newt around 2pm on January 8th, 2023.

SheShy has been more active today than usual.

She is certainly not hungry.

SheShy had her favorite meal (a couple snails) this morning.

I wonder what this activity is about...

SheShy is the most curious among my 3 newts.

She is quite an explorer and brave for that!

Wow! That is a nice attempt SheShy made.

I have not seen any of my newts climb out of water like that since last October.

And it was the same SheShy who did it the previous time too.

I never saw the other two (male) newts try anything like that ever.

All my Red-spotted newts are adults in the aquatic stage of development.

So, I don't really expect them to get out of the water...

Well, SheShy seems to have a different opinion about climbing out.

Yeah, try to figure out what girls want :)

Shortly later I came to check on plants that someone asked me about.

SheShy is on the land! 

The first time ever in this tank!!

Most likely, she climbed on the land at the spot where her tail still remains in the water.

I can see the rapid movements of her neck indicating the breathing rate I suppose.

Rapid and shallow breathing I would say.

In a couple minutes or so, an isopod came dangerously close to the newt.

Lucky for the isopod SheShy is looking for something else...

Could it be that she is inspecting the land to check if it is suitable for possible future babies?

I hope SheShy is satisfied with whatever she was after.

And it looks like she is going back to the water now...

Ha-ha! Funny she walks on the moss.

Okay, so SheShy took a look at the flat rock I use for feeding Isopods.

I think she likes that.

And now...SheShy is contemplating fish in the tank...and the game of ever changing RGB lights.

She picks underwater...

SheShy moves down in the water graciously hanging over the edge of the platform.

The ability to breath air and to stay underwater at the same time is truly fascinating to me.

He-he...now SheShy hangs with her tail only at the platform.

Yeah, so the newt took about a 10-15minutes long tour on the land.

I am not sure what she was looking for, if anything, but for the sake of pure curiosity.

Well knowledge, information is power.

And SheShy got it all - she is my power newt-girl!

Whatever there was to learn - SheShy knewt it :)

And the hanging land platform served very well as the ramp.

Have fun and Happy newts :)