MY NEWTS ARE FIGHTING

[jamie]

ONE OF MY NEWTS IS ATTACKING THE OTHER TWO!!!
It is newt to biggest and it attacks the other two when ever they are on the floor of the tank.
It hasn't left any wounds on them yet, but I'm worried. It will grab their legs and tail and wrap itself around them. I really enjoy having all three of them, please help.

 

[william]

what type of newts do you have? it my not be anything to worry about, but it depends on the species.

 

[jeff]

I can think of two reasons for why this is happening.

1) It may be that they're fighting over territory or some other reason (This applies only to territorial and/or aggressive species).

2) They are hungry, work themselves into a frenzy and mistake each other for food.

If you have a territorial or aggressive species (those of the pachytriton genus and, to some degree, those of the paramesotriton genus) then steps should be taken to have these conflicts avoided.

If it's just that they're hungry, I have heard from other members that feeding less food more frequently will help to control these feeding frenzies.

(Message edited by tmarmoratus on November 23, 2005)

 

[jennifer]

It's important to know the species of newt in order to find a good long-term solution to the problem. Were they from a pet shop? See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/firebelly.shtml
If that doesn't help, try to post a photo, or describe them.

 

[TJ]

Before some serious damage is inflicted, I'd recommend that you preemptively separate the aggressive newt from the other two until this whole thing can be figured out