Are Newts Dangerous?

There are two minor dangers newts pose to humans: salmonella, and toxins. Even so, newts are still very safe pets.

Salmonella

Newts, like all reptiles and amphibians, can carry salmonella. A few individuals can carry salmonella without showing symptoms, and since testing is expensive and treatment difficult, herpetoculturists like you and I would do best to act as if every newt had salmonella, in much the same way you'd clean up after raw eggs because they might be infected, and avoid pointing a gun at anyone because it might be loaded. Salmonella produces the same symptoms as ordinary food poisoning: 2 or 3 days of vomiting and diarrhea.

Prevention is rather simple: don't let anything from the newt contact your mucous membranes, where it can be absorbed into your body. Fortunately, ordinary soap (whether it's "antibacterial" or not) will kill salmonella. These are the precautions to follow:

Wash your hands after handling the newt or cleaning its cage
In the meantime, don't touch food or your mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth)
Keep the newt away from people who are very young, very old, or who have problems with their immune systems

Note #3. This means that newts are not a good pet for very young children. If your kid wants a newt, make her wait until she's 5.

You are more likely to get salmonella from a raw egg than from a reptile or amphibian; salmonella is not very common among newts nor is it particularly hard to avoid -- just observe the rules above. Washing your hands before and after handling newts will also help the newts (they don't like the oils in human skin) and yourself (some newts are poisonous).

Poison

The brightly colored bellies should tip you off: newts are poisonous - but only if you eat them. If you were to do something dumb like try to eat or lick your newt, you'd notice a horrible burning sensation, and then you'd probably start vomiting to get the little guy out of your stomach. How do we know this? Because every now and then some drunk guy will dare or bet some other drunk guy to swallow a newt. These cases make it into the medical literature (citations coming as soon as I can dig them up), and we find that if by chance you don't throw up, the poison from the newt is enough to kill you.

Is it safe to keep newts? Yes. As long as nobody's eating anybody else, the newts' poison will not hurt you or the newts' tankmates. All of this also applies to fire-belly toads, which many people keep with newts: they can live with newts or other animals and not harm them.

In general, newts are a very safe pet.
Keep newts away from children and stupid drunk people who might eat them.
If your child has eaten a newt, don't email me! Call the poison control center.

References on toxicity

J Nat Toxins 2001 May;10(2):79-89 Toxicity and toxin profiles of the newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster from western Japan. Tsuruda K, Arakawa O, Noguchi T. Graduate School of Marine Science and Engineering, Nagasaki University, Japan. A total of 382 specimens of aJapanese newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster, were collected from western Japan during 1996 to 1999, and assayed for their individual, geographical, sexual, seasonal variations, and anatomical distribution of toxicity by mouse. Most of the specimens tested showed toxicity scores ranging from 5 to 370 MU/g, where no seasonal, but large individual, sexual, and regional variations of toxicity were clearly recognized. Among the parts, skin and muscle showed higher toxicity scores (56 MU/g) than liver, stomach, intestine and gonad, whose toxicity ranged from less than 2 to 33 MU/g. The C. pyrrhogaster toxin was purified by several steps of column chromatography and was shown toconsist of tetrodotoxin (TTX) and 6-epiTTX as main components, and 4-epiTTX,4,9-anhydro-6-epiTTX, and 4,9-anhydroTTX as minor ones by means of HPLC and 1H-NMR analyses.

Toxicon 2002 Aug;40(8):1149-153 Tetrodotoxin levels of the rough-skin newt, Taricha granulosa, increase in long-term captivity. Hanifin CT, Brodie ED 3rd, Brodie ED Jr.Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-5305, USA. chanifin@biology.usu.edu We investigated the persistence of the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX) in individual captive newts (Taricha granulosa) from the Willamette Valley of Oregon using a non-lethal sampling technique. We found that the TTX levels of newts held in the laboratory for 1 yr increased. TTX stereoisomer-analog profiles were not affected by captive husbandry. Levels of TTX were high in newts from our study population and we observed substantial within population variation in quantitative levels of TTX. Females possessed more TTX than males, but the response of TTX levels to captivity did not differ between females and males. The stability of TTX toxicity in newts is consistent with other amphibian species where TTX is present and may indicate that exogenous factors play a less important role in TTX toxicity of newts than previously thought.

Toxicon 2001 Aug;39(8):1261-3 The levels of tetrodotoxin and its analogue 6-epitetrodotoxin in the red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens. Yotsu-Yamashita M, Mebs D.Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 1-1 Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, 981-8555, Sendai, Japan. Tetrodotoxin (TTX) and its analogue 6-epiTTX were detected in 11-12 specimens of the red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, by a post-column fluorescent-HPLC system and by LC/MS in selected ion monitoring mode. TTX levels varied considerably among individuals from low (less than 0.15 microg TTX/g newt) to high concentrations (23.5 microg TTX/g newt), while 6-epiTTX was found to be a minor constituent in all specimens.

Pediatr Emerg Care 2000 Aug;16(4):268-9 "Tail of newt": an unusual ingestion. King BR, Hamilton RJ, Kassutto Z.Department of Emergency Medicine, The University of Texas Houston Medical School, 77030, USA. bking@em.med.uth.tmc.edu

Toxicon 1990;28(2):238-41 Distribution of tetrodotoxin, 6-epitetrodotoxin, and 11-deoxytetrodotoxin in newts. Yotsu M, Iorizzi M, Yasumoto T.Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. Tetrodotoxin was detected in all nine species of newts tested, 6-epitetrodotoxin in six species, and 11-deoxytetrodotoxin in five species. Only one species lacked the analogues, thus suggesting that the analogues were common metabolites among newts. Toxin levels were high in Taricha granulosa and Notophthalmus viridescens followed by Cynops spp. Distinct differences in toxin contents and profiles existed among species and tissues.

JAMA 1982 Mar 12;247(10):1408 Toxic salamanders. Brodie ED Jr. Publication Types: Letter

JAMA 1981 Jul 17;246(3):247 A fatal poisoning from the Oregon rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa). Bradley SG, Klika LJ.