I have no idea what I'm doing...

[ian]

Defineately. Newts in pet shops are ususallly wild caught and shipped in horrible conditions. They can host parasites and will sometimes develop infections once brought home. Keep the new ones in seperate tanks for 1 month if they appear healthy for that whole time move them into the new tank. Also, you should probably change around your tank's set up. The whole tank is your first newt's territory, and he will defend it. If you change around the setup when you put in the new newts, everything will be in a different place and not be his territory any more, so the first newt will not be as aggressive to the new ones. Try to get newts of the same size (not smaller).

 

[lee]

Newts are aggressive to their territory....hmm. Well the only thing I have to put the new newts in for a month is that old 2.5 gallon tank I originally put the first newt in. There's a 2-week guarentee for illness/deaths on the newts, not a month though. Maybe I could just add 1 more newt to the 10 gallon and rearrange the tank setup?

And by the way...do newts eat crickets? Those are the only live foods Pets Mart sells. Other than that they have different types of dried worms, etc.

 

[kaysie]

IMHO, you should stop shopping at petsmart. newts are better off with a varied diet. try earthworms, nutritious and delicious. and the month long quarantine is for YOUR peace of mind, not petsmarts. if you bring in a new animal, and put it in your tank that you already have established, and its carrying a disease, you'll lose both animals, not just the new one.

now, did you even look at www.caudata.org/caudatecentral yet? i know i suggested it and you got huffy. i didnt suggest it just for the exercise. there's a lot of good information there and it will probably answer a good 85% of your questions. try it!

 

[rancidevilpingu]

hey, wheres petsmart?

 

[kaysie]

you dont want to know. trust me.

 

[elisabeth]

I'd just like to say that anyone who gets a pet or is planning on getting a pet should read up on them first. That's what you have to do: read. If you're not even willing to do some research, you shouldn't have a pet.
Also, new newt owners need to invest in PH and Amonia testing kits. Gotta make sure that water is good!

Also, one question....
I have a bit of a film in my tank, but I do have a filter. Is airation really necessary? I tested the water quality, and it seems to be fine.

 

[rob]

You do not need airation but it probably would help. The film is usually left over protein from the meals you've fed your pets...especially when frozen food is used. It's not always an indication of poor water quality, but a few partial water changes more frequently should help in removing at least some of it.

 

[mary]

Hi,all!
My husbands coworker caught a red spotted newt yesterday and we want to keep it. I have read lots of info tonight and believe it is an eft (about 2 1/2 inches long, seems terrestrial). We knew nothing before yesterday and today I found out it is a red spotted one. ANyway, went to the pet store and they recommended using gravel, fake plants, etc. However, we'd like the dirt, stones, sticks, etc. we temporarily housed him in. Also, the pet store gave us a cricket and two feeder fish (small but wonder if too big for size of newt) and we dug up a worm and halved it for him. Do you have suggestions for best environment? We know we can't put other things in with him and not to feed him plants.
Thanks for any help.
Mary}}}

 

[jennifer]

Sounds like your ideas are better than the pet shop! Stick with the dirt setup and worms for food. Try to train the little guy to eat bits of chopped worm from a tweezers. If this doesn't work, you may be able to leave bits of chopped worm on the ground near him and he'll eat when you aren't looking (count the pieces to see).

 

[mark]

Jen one problem with leaving worms on soil is that they can dig into it and your newt would'nt eat but you would think it had.

Mark

 

[aaron]

Mark, she said pieces of worms. If you make them small enough, they won't move.

~Aaron