Notophthalmus viridescens

We have beautiful Red Efts for sale at unbeatable pricing. These amphibians are the red-colored terrestrial phase of the Eastern newt, and simply stunning. When you buy a Red eft from us, you automatically receive our 100% live arrival guarantee. Red Eft

Quick Read About Red Eft

The red eft (juvenile) stage is a bright orangish-red, with darker red spots outlined in black. An eastern newt can have as many as 21 of these spots. The pattern of these spots differs among the subspecies. An eastern newt’s time to get from larva to eft is about three months. During this stage, the eft may travel far, acting as a dispersal stage from one pond to another, ensuring outcrossing in the population. The striking coloration of this stage is an example of aposematism — or “warning coloration” — which is a type of antipredator adaptation in which a “warning signal” is associated with the unprofitability of a prey item (i.e., the saturation of the eft’s tissues with tetrodotoxin) to potential predators.

After two or three years, the eft finds a pond and transforms into the aquatic adult. The adult’s skin is a dull olive green dorsally, with a dull yellow belly, but retains the eft’s characteristic black-rimmed red spots. It develops a larger, blade-like tail and characteristically slimy skin.

It is common for the peninsula newt (N. v. piaropicola) to be neotenic, with a larva transforming directly into a sexually mature aquatic adult, never losing its external gills. The red eft stage is in these cases skipped.