Fire belly changed colour to light green is that normal or sickness?

[spaca]

my fire-belly newt changed colour in about 2 days from dark black to light green.
is that normal or sign of sickness?
their behaviour didnt change they are very active and hungry as ever
they eat artemias and sometimes bloodworms
should i make more water changes?
i change once a week some of the water and feed them every second day.
unfortunatly one of the 3 escaped last night and i dont even know how.
if thats a sign of stress its pretty new to me becouse i have them for some moths already.

 

[Azhael]

Changes in color appear spontaneously in this species. Normally they shift into a greyish color of which you can see an example in the CC article. The greenish look might be an effect of the grey coloration under a particular kind of light. Try to get a picture if you can.
If that´s what it is, it´s nothing to worry about.
Are artemia and bloodworms all you feed them? You should really introduce earthworms into their diet.
These newts are remarkably good at scaping through the least expected places, you need to make absolutely sure that the lid is 100% scape proof. I´d also check the water parametres since the fact that one newt scaped might be an indication of inproper water parametres.

 

[spaca]

i dont think they can eat a earth worm the are smaller than one they are very small i think should i cut the earthworm in small pieces?

 

[Azhael]

The color looks perfectly ok, nothing to worry about. You should worry about their weight, though, they are uncomfortably thin. Get them to eat cut up earthworms and if you can get them, some waxworms would be nice too.
How much water is there in the tank? It looks like it´s very shallow.

 

[spaca]

the deepest side is 10cm and it goes to 2cm and some dry places.
but....good news is im going to buy a new tank becouse this one was temporary and in the next week ill be working on it so if u can give me any advice such as :
plants substrate (im using sand and only sand for the moment but would like something else ) rocks or no rocks at all.
thanks

 

[froggy]

I would either use no substrate or sand. Small stones can be swallowed, while large stones will trap lots of food, leading to reduced feeding and bad water quality. I would go for sand as it is good for rooting plants in.

Plants will depend on your lighting, but this species likes lots of them. Elodea/Anacharis is easily available and grows readily, so is a good choice. Also, other 'feathery' stem plants like Cabomba are good. Java moss is another good bet, as is Valsineria. You can put a number of species in and see what does well in your tank; you basically want something that will quickly fill the tank with a mat of vegetation. Remember to remove the metal weights from bunched plants to avoid rot setting in.

If you are setting up a new tank, make sure it is cycled properly before adding the newts. All the information you need is to be found at Caudata Culture (see my signature).

I hope that chopped worm went down well with the newts. It will let them put on some more weight.

Chris

 

[froganole]

the deepest side is 10cm and it goes to 2cm and some dry places.
but....good news is im going to buy a new tank becouse this one was temporary and in the next week ill be working on it so if u can give me any advice such as :
plants substrate (im using sand and only sand for the moment but would like something else ) rocks or no rocks at all.
thanks

Fire bellied newts really like to lay there eggs in java moss it is usually available at pets stores for a reasonable price and it grows well. another plant is hornwort it grows fast and is cheap and plentiful. If you have a turtle feed the excess to that as turtles LOVE it. Also when i got my young male it was a blue gray and he is doing very well right now.