Illness/Sickness: Getting Fire belly newts to eat

[totallyrad]

Hello, I've been having a hard time getting them to eat recently. Water is clean and sand bottom and i have a sponge filter in their with live plants. temp is 70

One was eating fine for a little while but then he started refusing food also.

Do you think it's possibly some sort of parasite? They have been shedding their
skin what seems like a lot. It's probably been 2-3 weeks since the smaller one has
eaten and 1-2 weeks since the bigger one has eaten.

i'm running out of ideas and I don't know what could be the problem. They still
are staying out of the water on top of a ceramic pot holder, i never see them enter the water. So I guess they could just be not ready to go in the water yet.
Do you think it's the water possibly? I'm just confused and need help lol.. I'm worried about them and want to see them eat soon. Is there anything they would want to eat rather than earthworms, cause it seems like they don't like them or are frightened by them or something. I need to fatten the smaller one up but it's hard cause they just won't eat.
They don't seem to like me yet, I think I scare them every time I stick my hand in to offer food
thanks

 

[AngieD]

Is there any water motion? They don't like to water moving. And are there plenty of places for them to hide in the water?
Try them on live bloodworms, I have never seen an adult newt (I own 2 paddle-tails and I help my boyfriend look after 5 fire-bellies) ever refuse bloods. Live ones might encourage them more than pre-killed.

I'm also curious as to what size they are - if they are smaller than fully grown, the worms might be overfacing them.

If your hand scares them, just quickly drop a pinch of bloodworms onto a land area in the tank and leave the room for a little while.

Other than that, I regret to say I have no other suggestions.

I hope the little guys show an improvement soon

 

[evut]

Have they always stayed on land? Where did they eat before and what?
If they don't want to go in the water, it might be a good idea to move them into a more terrestrial set-up for a while (with a water bowl). They might put on some weight that way and then you could try getting them to swim again by starting with shallow water.

If they're in a terrestrial enclosure, you could put different kinds of live food in and leave them to it - if they're shy it might suit them better. Don't put too much food in at once, though. You could try small earthworms, chopped earthworms (might be unpleasant for them due to secretions - depends on worm species), lesser waxworms (good for fattening up), small slugs, woodlice, small crickets etc.

 

[totallyrad]

thanks for the suggestions guys

they are about 2.25 inches long and mostly stay on the platform i have for them.
the rest is all water with plants but they never go in the water. the only water motion is from
the bubbles made by the sponge filter which i doubt that would stress them out but i can try turning it off. i'll try some other kinds of food and see if that helps. the time they did eat was when they were above water.
i might try making more terrestrial space in the tank maybe they'll feel more comfortable then and
will eat. we shall see.

 

[Insane1818]

My smaller newts (hatched in March) and tend to stay mostly on land occasionally in a small water bowl; eat copped up earth worms (listed as red wigglers in the stores) and fruit flies. My older, full grown newts eat sinkable pellets, blood worms, black worms (live), and brine shrimp (live).

I would def add more places to hide and more land areas. Good luck. I hope it gets better.