Help!

[davidpgregory]

I am seeking advice from members who may have had similar experiences , or insight into a problem I am having with my beloved Fire Bellied Newt, Baby. He was once the youngest newt in my tank, hence the name. He has outlived all of his original tank-mates, by many years, and has without question led a happy, pampered life. That being said, he has been with us for so long (about 17 years) that he has become a true part of the family, and once I read that newts could live for up to 30 years, I became committed to helping him enjoy as many more years as possible. I understand that is an abnormally long life for a captive newt, and I am proud to have cared for him so well that he has kept us company for so long. He lives in a 55 gallon tank that has about 25 gallons of pre-filtered and stabilized water circulating through a Penn Plax Cascade filter rated for up to 100 gallons. The tank has a central reef constructed of stone which rises above the surface of the water to create a land mass including many newt-sized nooks and crannies, both above and below the water level. Baby shares his home with a small frog and a small fish, as well as a large population of snails which spontaneously grew out of nowhere. They have been living together harmoniously for years, and an inspection of Baby's body reveals no injuries or ulcers of any kind. Years ago, when I was able to find them, Baby enjoyed a diet of live blood worms, but for many years he has been settling for frozen since that is all I can find. He will occasionally surprise me by gobbling up a stray frog feed pellet, but for the most part is into the blood worms. I have tried feeding him brine shrimp in the past for variety, but he is not enthusiastic about them. I offer him a pinch of thawed blood worms almost every evening, and more often than not, he aggressively eats them off my fingertip, sometimes scraping my skin with his tiny teeth in the process. There have been many times in the past when he has gone a few days without any interest in eating, so initially I was not overly concerned when he stopped eating, but now it has been 11 days and I am scared. I have offered him blood worms, brine shrimp, moistened frog pellets, and very small earthworms, at various times of day, with lights on, and with lights off, on my finger, on a skewer, in a pile on his rock, in any and every way I can think of. One of the earthworms literally rubbed itself on his mouth, so I don't suspect a vision or olfactory failure of preventing him from detecting his food. He is just not interested in eating. I tested my water of course, and there is no measurable ammonia present. The ph was low, and I have been slowly raising it by adding ph-up and re-testing. Truthfully I don't believe the ph is a significant factor, as it has fluctuated in the past without consequence, and my frog is swimming around like crazy and gobbling his food without a care. Typically Baby spends the majority of his time on land, but takes an occasional swim around the tank which he navigates surely and athletically. He has always been nimble and fairly quick, even on land, but for the past week or 2, he has been sluggish. He moves around, but not much, and not fast, and his typical rhythmic throat bulge appears to be more of a tremor at times. He actually seems to shake a little sometimes. I have not seen him swim, but he keeps moist by standing in the mist from the filter discharge. I am hopeful that my boy will greedily snap a wad of worms off my finger the next time I offer them, but would greatly appreciate any advice on how to encourage him to eat. I know he is not young, and that maybe he is just tired, but I don't want to give up on him prematurely. If there is anything more I can do to help him bounce back, or just to be more comfortable, I want to do all I can. I am sorry this entry was so long, but I did not want to leave out anything that might help diagnose, or eliminate potential causes. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you in advance for any advice or guidance you can offer.

 

[Jennewt]

The longevity is impressive. For the record, do you know what species Baby is? From what I can tell, the Japanese firebellies (Cynops pyrrhogaster) seem to live longer than the Chinese (Cynops orientalis), but I'm always looking for more data points. If you aren't sure of species, see:
Caudata Culture Articles - Firebelly

Regarding pH, I would strongly discourage you from using "pH UP" to adjust it. This chemical is a simple base. It has no buffering capacity, and the pH tends to go right back down after using it, thus creating fluctuations, which may be more stressful than the acidic pH unaltered would be. Instead, increase the amount or frequency of partial water changes and perhaps add a small piece of limestone or other form of calcium carbonate, which will buffer the pH. Or you can use an aquarium buffer solution. Either way, be aware that metabolic activity (animals living, and stuff decaying) of any kind will gradually decrease aquarium pH over time, and this is likely the reason it got that way.

11 days is not a very long time to go without eating, although I understand your concern. You certainly seem to be trying all the right things. Has anything changed lately, such as something new in the setup? What is the water temperature?

 

[davidpgregory]

Thank you so much for getting back to me. I believe he is a Japanese Firebelly. His size is ambiguous, as he is about 3.5" long, and his skin is textured, but not drastically. However the shape of his tail, and the pattern of spots on his belly, which are distinctly spots as opposed to blotches, leads me to lean towards Japanese. I very much appreciate your insight regarding the ph, and I will at the very least get a bottle of buffer solution, but seek out a chunk of limestone as well. I much prefer to keep things as organic as possible. As for change, I changed (most of) the water, and cleaned the algae from the rocks and glass 2-3 weeks before his eating pattern changed. In the past this has not stressed him, but maybe the change was too drastic this time, as the water was embarrassingly dirty prior to the cleaning. Also I put the rocks back in a new arrangement when I returned them to the tank. I have always done that, as a way of giving the residents the illusion of a more vast ecosystem. The temperature is currently 75 F. Unfortunately, I did not check the temperature of the old water, but it was likely lower, as the temperature in the home has been rising due to the time of year. Perhaps the warmer temperature is causing him to need, and/or desire less nutrition. I will try partial water changes, as you suggest. Two days ago, he began nibbling a little. It is nothing like the voracious gobbling I am used to, but it does my heart good. I have been making him little sushi rolls of blood worms and soggy frog pellets and he has eaten a bit of each. I have recently read of powdered vitamin supplements which can be sprinkled on amphibian food. Do you recommend anything of that sort? I am very glad to have discovered this forum, and I wish I had done so sooner. Thank you again for helping me to be the best care-taker I can be.

 

[Jennewt]

If he is male, then 3.5 inches is a normal size for Japanese firebelly. Any chance of a photo?

In cleaning, I would recommend changing a lot of water or cleaning algae, but not cleaning everything at once. Small frequent cleanings are better than one big one.

Under stress, cooler temperatures are better for newts. Also, they burn fewer calories at cooler temperature, so try to keep him cool until he is eating well again. There's an article on the CC website with various methods for keeping tanks cooler.

It's difficult to apply vitamins to food that are fed in water. Try to use earthworms, which are a well balanced food. Glad to hear he's beginning to eat again.

 

[davidpgregory]

I am fairly certain he is a male due to the protrusions on his back above his rear legs. I will keep a closer eye on the water temperature and try to keep it closer to 65 - 70 F. He usually eats on land, so I will try an occasional sprinkle of vitamins when he is back to normal, and I will offer him small earth worms as I find them. Last night he ate a big pinch of blood worms off my finger tip and ate a small heap I left for him overnight. It appears that he is beginning to bounce back. I guess 11 days is not as big an emergency as I took it to be. Thank you again for your concern and advice. I have some good photos, but they don't have URLs, and I have not figured out how to attach them. I thought it might be easier to create an album in my profile, but I haven't figured that out yet either. I'm probably just missing something obvious, but it isn't as easy as I thought it would be to insert photos. I will try to figure it out and get you some photos later.

 

[davidpgregory]

Ok. I found what I was missing as soon as I sent that message - "Go Advanced". Here are the photos.