Confused about behavior of my newt....

[jamie]

I just got a oregon newt about two weeks ago. He has been absolutely fine, playing on the land and water until i took him out of his tank to clean it, and put him back in last week. For about three days after that i thought he was dying because he curled in a little ball and sat on land for days, moving little if at all. Then all of a sudden he was totally normal again for days until i once again changed his water. Now he's in his unactive phase again, and now i have a filter so hopefully i wont disrupt him as much. Does anyone know what is going on?

(Message approved by admin)

 

[pin-pin]

Hi Jamie,

Congrats on the oregon newt, they're very hardy creatures and have a great personality. (I'm biased, of course).

You can try out these ideas at:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/waterquality.shtml

Without further information, I'd only question whether you're dechlorinating your water with a product that removes both chlorine or chloramine. It might be some other factor with the water that is stressing out your newt enough to drive it to land, but that's my initial guess.

Make sure the filter doesn't leave any open cracks in the cage, as he might escape.

 

[jamie]

Thanks for the info, i have tried to learn more about my newt but it seems there isn't a great deal online that i can find..do you have any other things i should know, like what is best to feed this kind of newt, and they habits and such?
thanks!!!

 

[pin-pin]

well, you have come to the right place. here's the caresheet on oregon newt:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Taricha/T_granulosa.shtml

and California newt:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Taricha/T_torosa.shtml

You can also head to the chat room, once in awhile you can get instant help from the people lurking there.

(Message edited by apples on February 25, 2004)

 

[jamie]

well, after reading those two articles, i really dont know which one i have...i think it's the california newt, but they vary so much yet are so alike...one thing the article didn't tell me is what temps are good, i've been reading everywhere that they like below room temp, so i've been making sure the room doesn't get warm..is that right?

 

[pin-pin]

Hi Jamie,

You most likely have a granulosa. If you post a shot of its top, bottom, and side (focusing in on the eye), you can get a few more educated guesses.

As for tank temperature, as long as you keep it 65F, it's fine. Tarichas are tough newts. The ponds and streams I've visited have been recorded to be 45F (brrrr) to 68F. (Yes I measured the pond temperature with a thermometer, I'm a nerd) It's been noted that they can handle higher temperatures but you put the newt at risk of heat stress related problems.

Sounds like you got good advice in the chat rooms, so keep us updated on how the little guy is doing.