Here are some care sheets which should help. Note that there are 2 species of these guys, chinese and japanese. I linked a good care sheet for each. You should identify which you have (the links should help). Once you know which is yours, a yahoo search on the scientific name should give you tons of info! http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_pyrrhogaster.shtml http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_pyrrhogaster.shtml

Fire bellies generally like it a little cool (mid 70's at most), but should be offered a warmer spot in your terrarium. I've given my pair (which I've had for about 2 years) a higher level closer to the light which gets up to about 85 degrees. About 20 percent of the time they're up there, until they see my then they dive into the pool :)

Lots of options there, don't miss out on choosing a shade you love. The quality is excellent, and you can get a set of finish swatches that, at least in the past, would be applied to your purchase price. I just checked and our lights are about 6'8" off the floor and are seldom in the way. That height aligns the bottom of the shades with the top of our doors. That would give you a very comfortable foot or more of fixture height to play with. If you have people flailing their arms about, you might have a problem. Just don't put your Wii in the mud room... Our upstairs bathroom is 6'x7' with 10' ceilings and we have one of the (as I remember) Lombard fixture in there with what I think is the BC5558 blue-banded shade and it is comfortable in there. I don't recall if we have a 60W or 100W bulb in there.

Any moving water- fountain or fall? NO Any filter? NO Edges, Rocks or logs around? ROCKS WITH SPACES UNDERNEATH AROUND THE POND, LARGE WOODPILE COVERED IN IVY ABOUT 3 FEET AWAY FROM THE POND Type of weed, STARWORT, AND THAT REALLY COMMON BORING OXYGENATOR WHOSE NAME ESCAPES ME RIGHT NOW... How much sun, ONLY ABOUT 6 HOURS IN WINTER, SUMMER GETS SUN MORNING AND EVENING (NOT FOR ABOUT 3 HOURS MID-DAY) Density of weed- how much clear water? 2/3 When do you normally first spot newts and babies each year? THIS YEAR LAST SAW NEWTS IN NOVEMBER, AND NEWTS APPEARED WITH FROGS LATE JANUARY How tidy is your garden? NOT VERY! BELIEVE IN SEMI-ORGANISED CHAOS Do you also have frogs or toads? YEP!! Do you also have ornamental fish? NOPE Do you also have native fish ie sticklebacks? YEP Do you feed fish in this pond? NO How long have you had newts? or how soon after building pond did they appear? I THOUGHT I SAW THEM AFTER ONE YEAR (SPRING) BUT CONVINCED MYSELF IT WAS A FAST STICKELBACK AND MY WISHFUL THINKING. SAW THEM FOR SURE THE FOLLOWING YEAR (ABOUT 6 INDIVIDUALS), SO I THINK IT WAS A FLASH OF NEWT I SAW THE FIRST YEAR AFTER ALL. Mine are common newts (although a mile away there are great crested newts, so I keep hoping). Garden is triangular with two sides busy road, so I am amazed they found the pond. Other corner backs onto gardens which back onto woods/lake. Never seen babies, but that does not mean they are not there, as each year there are consistently adult newts about. I think though that the main predator would be the big dragonflynymphs. Deepest part of pond is 3 feet, so glory knows what happens there. Noticed that the newts congregate near the rocky houses, and some extra holes between the rocks have appeared near the water surface.... What is your situation?