Few questions ( I read the stickies)

[Jimmy NewtTron]

I recently bought a fire belly newt!! Here are a few pictures! ( I attached them)

Anyway, I've only had him for a day, and I read on one of the sticky threads that it is normal for them not to eat for a while. He wouldn't even touch these things I bought called "newt bites". I went outside, turned over a rock, and found a small earthworm (about an inch long, very skinny) and I dangled it in front of him, and he ate it right up!!

Will he only eat live food, or will he eventually eat the pellets?

Also, right now I just have him in a small tank thingy with really wet paper towel at the bottom , some water, and a few clean rocks and stuff. How long should I wait to put him in the 10 gallon tank I have? whenever I put him in it's going to be part land and part water. and It will have a filter, some fake plants, and a few decorations like a castle to hide in.

Thanks!

Btw he is like an inch long

Edit: To be more specific, the paper towel is really wet and there's a bit of standing water. Definitely enough to keep him wet.

 

[Chinadog]

He may eventually learn to recognize pellets as food, it depends on the individual animal, some will, some won't. Why is he not in the 10 gallon tank at the moment?

 

[Asevernnnn]

Most newts prefer live food, and it's usually healthier, chopped earthworm is like the best thing you could feed a newt as long as there was no pesticide used where it's collected from. High quality newt pellets are also accepted often but will probably only eat them if their underwater.
You could add the newt once your tank is cycled. You're going to want a ton of plants in your tank. There's never really too much plants for this specie. H. orientalis can be fully aquatic given the right housing, so a large land area would not be needed, maybe just a floating piece of cork bark, my orientalis don't even have a land area but there's enough plants so that it can be near or far from the waters surface. Water temperature would want to be below like 73 degrees F. These newts also dislike a high water flow, if your filter creates a large current you're gonna wanna get something to block the output or getting a different filter, all I have in my tanks are sponge filters and a ton of live plants while doing frequent water changes

 

[Jimmy NewtTron]

Thanks for the replies! I heard they aren't supposed to be put in to a tank until he's bigger? Is that true? And all this in there now is a rock but I'll be adding plants! Any other tips?

 

[Chinadog]

Nobody minds answering questions, but pretty much all the info you need is in the sticky at the start of the help section. If you read through the entire thread and are unsure about anything at all ask away!
Your newt would have been living in a fully aquatic environment when it was collected in China, it's plenty big enough for a 10 gallon tank.

 

[Jimmy NewtTron]

Thanks! I read the stickies but I didn't really find what I was looking for.. The tank setup part just had pictures and I didn't really find any detailed instructions, and some of the links on various other parts wouldn't work for me. But if you guys think he's big enough for the tank i'll add him today after I put in the filter, plants, bottom (gravel or sand, what should I use?) and his hiding spot!

 

[Chinadog]

One of the most important details is lots and lots of live plants, they make a huge difference to water quality, so much so that a filter is not really needed if there's enough of them. These sorts of wild caught newts are extremely stressed by the time they are sold in petstores, so for them to have the best chance of recovering and adapting to captivity you need to provide perfect conditions. Spend the money on live plants instead of a filter, your newt will benefit far more from live plants than it would from a filter. It's also critical to keep an eye on water quality and do regular partial water changes to begin with, once the tank cycles the plants will keep things sweet and water changes will be needed much less frequently. Hope this helps!

 

[Jimmy NewtTron]

Wow thanks! what plants should I ask about at my local pet store??

 

[Chinadog]

Elodea or Hydrocotyle (pennywort I think it's called?)are good choices, anything that grows in cold water really. Java ferns or Java moss are also suitable. the fact that there are live plants is more important than what kind they are so see what they have in at the petstore.