Completely Terrestrial

[aghiowa]

Hi all! I've had a C-FBN for several weeks now. After his initial shock at the move, he is now eating chopped earthworms and is seeming to be pretty well-adjusted. However, he NEVER wanders over to the aquatic side of his aquarium. I have a 10 gallon divided aquarium with water, rocks, floating plants etc on one side, and a compost, live moss, and rock terrestrial setup on the other side.

He spends his days happily curled up under his rocks, although I think at night he may go out and wander around land. I guess I was just wondering if this completely terrestrial existence is good for my aquatic newt or not. Shouldn't he be getting a bit more moisture on his skin? Right now I just keep some dechlorinated water in a spray bottle and mist him and his moss once a day or so.

If I place him in the water he will stay there for a while, but always make his way back to land. Should I change the setup to make the water side more available to him, or leave well enough alone? It just seems like I'm wasting over half my aquarium on a water side if he's never using it.

Thanks! I love all the great advice you all give here.

Angela

 

[blckkeys]

What is the water temperature and other water parameters? If the temperature is too high or ammonia levels are high or measurable, this would cause the newt to land. Or the newts could still be in a bit of shock. If you got the newt from a pet store it was already in a very stressful situation and then being put into a new setup puts more stress on the newt. The newt is eating though and that is good.

Could you send a pic of your setup. Hiding under the rock would be normal if the newt had gone terrestrial as well. As long as the substrate is somewhat moist, I wouldn't worry about the newt getting to dry. Misting once a day or so should be fine.

Also if you haven't seen these yet, check out these articles.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups2.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/waterquality.shtml

 

[aghiowa]

This is a photo of my tank setup. I don't particularly care for the tall, vertical partition. It doesn't seem to promote transition between water and land. However, I was given the tank, so I didn't get to design that part of it. I have had the water doing it's thing for about 3 weeks now, and I will get a test kit to check my parameters.

I am thinking I may rip out the partition and redesign it to be more semi-aquatic newt friendly. I know this could take a while and then I have to get the water all correct again. If I do this, what do I do with Fred while this is going on?

One other thing I noticed him doing...this morning, he burrowed himself underneath the moss with only his little head poking out. Is this normal newt behavior?

Thanks again.