As you can see, the Red Eft stage looks nothing like the adult newt. Indeed, early on it was thought that these were two different species. Red Efts will remain in this stage anywhere from 1 to 7 years before transforming into adult newts and re-entering the water. One reason for the bright color of the Red Eft is that it is highly toxic to predators. Touching one, however, is not a problem.