Fire Bellied Newt Not Eating

[Jonjourno]

Hello everyone,
I am new to the forum, and also new to newt's. I purchased a Fire Bellied Newt about a month ago, and he is approximately 2 inches long from it's head to the tip of its tail. He hasn't ate a thing since I got him. I have tried Bloodworm (frozen) Daphnia (frozen) dried turtle food, and I even tried fish food when I ran out of idea's. He doesn't appear to have lost any weight, but he has no source of food whatsoever, I have a heater in my tank to maintain 20 degrees celcius, as I have read this is the best temperature for them, and other then that, there is limited information online, if anyone could advise me on what possibly to try, or change, that would be fantastic

If you need any more information on my set up, let me know and I will do my best to answer

Thanks everyone in advance,
John

 

[asfouts]

hello I am glad to see a fire belly newt keeper. I had a couple for 10 years that I got from Petco (so who knows how old they were). My smaller male Only ate small live foods such as worms, slugs, and especially fruit flies. He also stayed mostly on land. My female who spent much of her time underwater only ate dead or frozen things. So my question is whether your newts travel to land at all? and if they don't have you tried aquatic insects? Some insects that newts seem to like are bloodworms, blackworms, hyallela. The thing is that some do not adapt to eating things that do not move. You can try and train the newt, but I never had success training my live insect eater to take flakes, pellets, or frozen food items. I also never had success with breeding the two, but thats another story haha. Anymore questions I am glad to help with.

 

[evut]

You can get rid of the heater - temperature below 20 C will be better for the newt. It is most likely stressed from transportation etc. (pet shops mostly sell wild caught newts) which is probably why it isn't eating. You should definitely try offering it earthworms - either smaller ones or pieces of nightcrawlers. Red wigglers have unpleasant secretions so they are not the best choice. Earthworms generally are newt superfood. Don't stress the newt with the food though - try once or twice a day. Make sure you don't leave any food to decompose in the water.

Does the newt appear healthy, apart from not eating? Are there any sores on it's skin, does it swim well and look healthy?

It would be good if you could also post some photos and a description of how you are keeping the newt. In the meantime, read as much as you can here. I assume you newt is a Hypselotriton (previously Cynops) orientalis - relevant articles can be found here and here.
If you look through this section of the forum, you will find many threads dealing with similar situations, which might also be helpful.

 

[asfouts]

You can get rid of the heater - temperature below 20 C will be better for the newt. It is most likely stressed from transportation etc. (pet shops mostly sell wild caught newts) which is probably why it isn't eating. You should definitely try offering it earthworms -
It would be good if you could also post some photos and a description of how you are keeping the newt.
If you look through this section of the forum, you will find many threads dealing with similar situations, which might also be helpful.

I agree with evut on the heater it is unecessary and the earthworms are a great food source. It would be great to see your setup as well.

 

[Jonjourno]

Hi all,

Where to start, bought locally from previous keeper, who had it in a "hamster transporting tub" with a rock and water, I got the newt for £2, and didn't know anything about them, she said she fed it frozen bloodworm, which I have tried with no luck

My set up as it currently stands, but not for much longer, is a 18" tank, piece of bogwood, a piece of rock, small filter, heater (as everywhere I read advised a fairly consistant temp of 20 degrees) as the temperature overnight can drop a fair amount in the UK

I put silica sand in and really regret doing so and am changing it for pebbles (I saw a tank on Youtube with pebbles in and it looked smart

He spends all his time out of water, could probably do with more land/less water in the tank, he swims on top of the water, looks like he is waddling or a word to that effect, wiggles his bum, seems very lively when I pick him up, could be intrieged, could be scared, I don't know, doesn't seem to be in a rush to leave my hands, just seems to come to life

Sorry on the delay for the response, this is a very weird forum where I had to wait for an Admin to authorise my post, and I haven't recieved e-mail confirmation of it, or to notify me of responses

I have also dropped the water level approximately 4/5 inches since the initial set up picture to give more land

I'm a complete novice in the world of newts, I have a lovely tropical fish tank and when my friend got an axolotyl, and I spotted the newt, I thought it was a must have

His name is Hendrix (the newt)

 

[Jonjourno]

Forgot to add, tried live Daphnia with no joy the other day too

 

[Azhael]

It´s lucky you found this site. There are a number of issues with the current housing and the advice you seem to have received so far.
Get rid of the heater asap. These newts not only tolerate but possitively thrive in cold temps. Anything from 4ºC to 22ºC is perfectly ok. Do not be afraid of a drop in temperatures at night. I doubt there is a very significant change throughout the day.

I strongly advice you not to use pebbles or gravel of any kind. It´s not a good substrate choice. Fine sand is perfectly fine, but you really don´t want that much sand in there. The sand layer should be an inch deep, tops. This prevents the formation of anaerobic pockets which can be a very serious problem.
Alternatively you can also go with no substrate at all, which is the most practical option by far.

The filter produces heat and current, both very undesirable. You can fully substitute the mechanical filtration with the biological filtration provided but large amounts of plants. This is really a great idea as these newts love dense areas of vegetation and having plants near the surface makes them feel much more secure, specially when trying to get them to be aquatic.

You need a 100% scape proof lid right now!!! They are good climbers and they will scape if given the chance.
Healthy, properly cared for animals are fully aquatic in captivity. The fact that your newt refuses to use the water is a sign of severe stress and the frantic swimming is likely to be a sign of inadequate water conditions. In order to get the animal to go back to an aquatic life, you need to provide excellent conditions (excellent water parametres, lots of plants, etc..). Water quality really is paramount.
Take advantage of as much volume of water as you can. The larger the volume, the more stable and easier to maintain. You can provide a small piece of cork bark for the animal to haul onto. That´s all that´s required.

Don´t handle it! Manipulation causes stress and is potentially dangerous as they are sensitive to even the natural skin oils in our hands, not to mention the heat.

Try feeding it earthworms and waxworms, those are the most likely to atract its attention.

Make sure to check this caresheet:
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

Also, there is a vast wealth of information regarding this species so make sure to read until your eyes bleed. You can use the search function or rumage around the Cynops&Hypselotriton section.

 

[AngieD]

I keep this species of newt and I live in the UK, I let my room get horrendously cold on winter nights just to keep the little guys as happy as possible.

Another thing I would add to the tank is a couple of hides - all my newts like to hide in whatever dark spaces they can find in their tanks. If your tank is well planted then you might not need a hide at all, but until then, pop something in for them to cower under should they feel the need to

 

[evut]

Just to add to previous posts, please read through the articles in Housing section here, they will give you a better idea about setting up the tank correctly and there are also some photos for inspiration. This forum and Caudata Culture is the best source of information about newts - I don't mean to offend but I wouldn't take tips from people on youtube and similar places. So many newts are kept incorrectly and just because the tough little guys can put up with it for quite a long time doesn't mean that it's right. As Azhael said, get a lid ASAP, if the newt escapes, it will dry out an die (there's also an article to help you here).
My guess regarding feeding is that until you get the newt to go in the water (voluntarily!), you will have trouble feeding it. If it's stressed and shy, it probably won't hand feed and I can't see how you could offer anything otherwise on the little island.

 

[Jonjourno]

Hi all, first thing to say, it has a lid, but it made it too dark to photo the set up when I had first set it up. I'll try adding more water, losing some sand and adding some plants, and will report back, thanks everyone, much appreciated

 

[Azhael]

Ah, good to know.
Let me stress the importance of plants. If you use obscene quantities of them, the filter will trully be entirely redundant and the effect on the newt´s behaviour will be dramatic. Don´t understimate me when i say obscene quantities xD I trully mean ridiculous amounts of them.

 

[Jonjourno]

Ok, so here is my updated tank, feedback is more than welcome!!

 

[Azhael]

I would eliminate more sand. This may result in problems trying to get the plants to stay rooted, but this can be prevented by placing them properly or attaching them to other decorations.
Try getting plants that float near the surface. Elodea, some Hydrocotyle species and masses of java moss are examples of plants that can be kept floating and that will provide support for the newt to be able to stick it´s head out of the water easily.
Here you can see an example (albeit a badly shot one) of what i´m talking about:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/member...ates/8301-lissotriton-vulgaris-vulgaris-male/
They key is for the plants to form dense areas right at the surface so the newt can use them as "rafts". You won´t believe the difference that makes.

 

[Jonjourno]

Ive added two more plants, more towards the ones in the pic, longer and faster growing, I put a live cricket in earlier, and it seems to have gone, might be good news, we'll see