Help with CFBN juvies!

[jplee3]

Hey guys,

I picked up a couple juvie CFBNs yesterday and one already died I had to transfer them into a smaller critter keeper and was planning to keep them in it for a while. I just had 1/4" of water and a small fake plant in there for them to climb up on. But I think they were stressed out. The temperatures today flared up too, and I know my AC wasn't running the whole time today. Anyway, even though it was pretty cool throughout the night neither of them wanted to eat.

I tried feeding them frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp and even small wax worms or wax worms that I cut up. Neither were interested - I think they were just way too stressed. I took a bit of tank water from my other newt tanks and mixed it with some dechlorinated water.
The water chemistry seemed to be fine from what I saw. Maybe a little on the hard side but everything else checked out. But the other guy still died

I added some sand to the tank to give some land area but the CFBN is primarily staying on the land. I put some more brine shrimp in and threw a waxworm in and he seemed interested in the waxworm for a bit - it was moving so he actually wrestled with it before losing interest. I cut it up and tried feeding it to him but he just wasn't interested at all.

Ughhh, this is really frustrating! I currently have the portable AC running in the room he's in so the temps should be okay.

What else should I try?

 

[Kerry1968]

I would suggest leaving the newt to settle in and recover from the trauma of being moved around.

Try and keep it cool and undisturbed for a few hours and perhaps try again with food.

I'm not experienced with newts, but would think any new arrival will be too stressed to eat.

Good luck with it.

 

[vistajpdf]

How big is the newt? Where did you get them? If they're wild caught (pet store sold) they/he may have been subjected to horrible conditions and likely arrived to you near death. If from a breeder, were they shipped or picked up? Keeping temps down is a must during shipping and now.

My pair, I now know, were WC and stayed on land for months, despite it being a small terrestrial area relative to the 10 gallon aquarium. They also didn't eat for a month. The female ate sooner, but the skinny little male really made me worry and was uniterested in the frozen and thawed bloodworms I thought were the staple of their diets. Once mine began eating (in the water - but I'd have to put them in there), they would still go back on land and huddle together under the little hide provided by a little hut.

Once returning to the water, they virtually never return to the land. So, you could have a situation like mine - they likely arrived in poor condition with poor water conditions and were too stressed out to try out the new water provided. Or, they could be young and not ready for land. I have a number of morphs at the moment who are fully terrestrial. I feed them fruit flies (flightless) and springtails. I gave black and white worms a try in a dish, but they weren't interested - same thing with wax worms, though the worms were bigger than them! Some people insist these juveniles love the wax worms, so if he was interested in that, keep trying.

Good luck,
Dana

 

[jplee3]

How big is the newt? Where did you get them? If they're wild caught (pet store sold) they/he may have been subjected to horrible conditions and likely arrived to you near death. If from a breeder, were they shipped or picked up? Keeping temps down is a must during shipping and now.

My pair, I now know, were WC and stayed on land for months, despite it being a small terrestrial area relative to the 10 gallon aquarium. They also didn't eat for a month. The female ate sooner, but the skinny little male really made me worry and was uniterested in the frozen and thawed bloodworms I thought were the staple of their diets. Once mine began eating (in the water - but I'd have to put them in there), they would still go back on land and huddle together under the little hide provided by a little hut.

Once returning to the water, they virtually never return to the land. So, you could have a situation like mine - they likely arrived in poor condition with poor water conditions and were too stressed out to try out the new water provided. Or, they could be young and not ready for land. I have a number of morphs at the moment who are fully terrestrial. I feed them fruit flies (flightless) and springtails. I gave black and white worms a try in a dish, but they weren't interested - same thing with wax worms, though the worms were bigger than them! Some people insist these juveniles love the wax worms, so if he was interested in that, keep trying.

Good luck,
Dana

Thanks for the tips all! The newts are maybe about an inch and a half - I got them from a girl whose roommate left them with her. She has a Paddletail newt so I can only assume she knew how to take care of them, but when I got them they were in terrible condition and stressed. The first day especially was the hardest and I probably didn't provide the most optimal conditions (I didn't know that I should just have kept them on the paper towel and ended up pouring about 1/8" to 1/4" of water into the critter keeper. That, coupled with the heat flare the day after, may have contributed to the death of the other guy - one seemed a little more "plump" than the other and that was the one that actually died. Neither were in great condition when I received them though I'm just wondering how often they were fed by the previous owner(s).

Anyway, the smaller guy (I think he's a male) is still alive and kickin. I left him alone with temps down as much as possible (as suggested) and he seems to be doing well now... I left him some thawed frozen bloodworms and he started eating them, surprisingly! I hand fed him some chopped up wax worms last night and he ate about 3/4's of a small one. I'm going to try some brine shrimp soon to mix it up. Right now I have him on a wet paper towel with a small plastic dish (need to change it cause it's leaking though) and a piece of a fake plant to crawl on/hang around. Hopefully he continues to eat and grow!

 

[vistajpdf]

Him eating is a great sign. I have a hunch they're juveniles at that size so shouldn't be in water. Keep the towels moist and change frequently and the temps low. Give him more hides - you can be creative. A broken terra cotta pot works, too, so you don't have to go buy stuff.

Good luck and keep us posted,
Dana

 

[jplee3]

Him eating is a great sign. I have a hunch they're juveniles at that size so shouldn't be in water. Keep the towels moist and change frequently and the temps low. Give him more hides - you can be creative. A broken terra cotta pot works, too, so you don't have to go buy stuff.

Good luck and keep us posted,
Dana

Yea... I feel so bad after the other one died. I just couldn't believe it. Definitely a humbling experience and a new one at that (in terms of caring for younger newts). They need like 10x more attention than grown newts.