New C.O setup

[connie]

Very new to this and on a minimal budget, this is what I've came up with.

-A little island out of a plastic container and smooth rocks.
-air bubbles, thermometer
-3 inches of water (is it too deep? the newt seems to struggle in the water. can it drown?)
-temporary styrofoam(sp) cover

I know it's not great and it's probably still too small but that's the best I can do for now.

Is it ok? Anything else I can do to improve it?

 

[khanh]

newts cant drown i believe..if your newt is a full adult it will be full aquatic. My newt never goes to land much, he goes onto land for like 2 minutes then gets back to what he was doing lol. nice tank....i could use the idea of a container hold for a island! thanks! ill show you guys my tank when i get my camera working!

 

[khanh]

ooo forgot.....try putting some plants and some hiding spaces if it fits....if your on a low budget within 30 bucks if you are, try buying a 10g tank 10 bucks, some rocks,10 bucks for enough for me lol, and some plants and decoration hiding spaces,or you can save up the decoration part and just buy the plant and go home and find some plant pots and put one inside the tank

 

[connie]

thanks

If u want to use the plastic container, I'd advise that you make a hole at the bottom where u can fill in the water or it'd float. Weighing it down with rocks would prevent it from moving around.

I'm slowly working on it, there isn't much space right now. sigh. I have to earn all the money that I've spent back first before I can spend anymore.

(Message edited by smellyocheese on October 11, 2005)

 

[jennifer]

Newts CAN drown (though it isn't normally a problem for adults). Even fully aquatic adults need a place to climb out of the water occasionally.

Connie, your setup looks fine. I agree that some plants would be a good idea. There are some houseplants that will grow at the surface of water, and maybe you could get some free cuttings somewhere? The ones I have in mind are called pothos and wandering jew. See:
http://www.caudata.org/people/JM/plants.html

 

[connie]

oh boy. that's what I was afraid of. I don't mean to be harsh but my newt seems kinda slow in the head because it would keep trying to climb up the slippery corners of the tank instead of climbing back up onto the rocks.

Sometimes it just floats around in the water. do i have to worry about that? It's hard to determine if it's alive underwater since they hold their breath...

oh, and these are the plants I have in my garden. Two of which that look like pothos but I'm not sure:

 

[mark]

Yes, the top one is pothos which is fairly abundant in Malaysia (not sure if it's native but many gardens have it and I've seen it growing wild). I don't envy you trying to keep a newt in KL. I was there earlier this year and the temperature was staggering, 35-40 C every day. I hope you have good air con.

Newly acquired C.Os are sometimes very aquaphobic and will appear to panic when in water. If you provide the right conditions it will settle down in time.

 

[connie]

thanks!

So I just cut the stem of the plant and just put it into the water? I'm not good with plants

I didn't even know it was called "pothos". We just call it "money plant"

Yeah, it's excruciatingly hot here. I pity my newt (has been dubbed 'Charmander'). I can't afford to keep the aircon running 24 hours a day so what I do is pop in some ice cubes in the morning, some in the evening when I get home from school (25-26C) and at night I bring the tank up to the bedroom where the aircon will be running for 4 hours or so (23-24C). In the afternoon I just hope for the best. I keep the lights off (the area is very well shaded) and the fan on. The temperature shouldn't go above 27C

is that alright?

 

[connie]

The store only had meal worms so I got some fresh water shrimp for the little fella. Refused to eat yet again but I left 3 inside the tank in case it wants to eat. What do I do if it continues to not eat? I don't want it to starve to death..

Made some changes to the tank:
- sponge replaced with air stone
- added in the pothos
- I made a lid out of a shoe box lid. I made lots of holes and weigh down the sides with crystals I have lying around.

Charmander seems to respond well to the pothos. It was struggling less in the water. Although, it is determined to climb out of the tank, using the plant as a lift...

 

[connie]

Freshwater shrimp - out
Baby guppie - out
Frozen bloodworms - no respond

I can't seem to find any live worms. All the stores I could go to so far don't have live worms except for meal worms.

I don't know what else to do. It's been 5 days it hasn't eaten since I brought it back from the store.

 

[mark]

This is a very common problem with newly acquired newts. You have to place yourself in the newts shoes for a moment…. A few weeks or maybe days ago he was most likely in the wild, surrounded by a whole host of aquatic invertebrates to nibble on, clean water at just the right temperature and plenty of places to hide from predators. Now however he’s in a small fish tank with warm water that’s probably full of unfamiliar chemicals, no places to hide, a plastic tub to sit on and being offered food items he’s never seen before. You don’t get frozen blood worms in the wild. It’s like trying to get a lion to eat a cabbage. So as you can see it’s not a good situation – especially for the newt. I doubt very much he has eaten since being caught.

So what can you do? First off you need to reduce the animals stress levels. You can do this by improving it’s environment. Make sure it’s tank is cool, the water quality is good i.e. cycled or treated water, that there are lots of hiding places – both in and out of the water (buy some plastic plants for the water and moss/rocks etc for the land. In the photos he looks like he is always trying to climb out…that is because he is… he thinks that the nice pool he used to live in is just on the other side of the glass. You also mention that you move the tank every evening – in the wild his pool stayed put, so this is also stressful. Any movement, vibrations etc near his tank will make him want to climb the walls. Try to keep him in a quiet part of the house and disturb him as little as possible.

Once you’ve improved his environment you can start thinking about food – ideally you need small live food. The shrimps were probably best out of the ones you’ve tried depending on their size. Don’t just put 3 in…he’s unlikely to find them. Put enough in to make it easy for him to see them. Go in the garden and dig up some worms, chop them to size and drop them in front of him. There are many food items you can try, read this http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml and http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/worms.shtml Even in Malaysia there are bound to be a number of biological companies that offer live aquatic inverts. Have a hunt around.

Good luck.

 

[mike]

Try digging in your backyard for some worms(small/miniture ones)and try feeding it..Of course make sure there is no pesticides or harmful chemicals in the place you're digging.

 

[connie]

gosh, now I feel really bad for getting him when I can't afford to provide the perfect environment for him. I'm really trying my best. I don't have anough to get a big complete tank for him and keep the aircon running 24 hours a day so the temperature would be right for him. I don't have a car to go to pet/aquarium stores that might have live worms (I've gone to all 3 stores at my place). Heck, I don't even have a backyard to dig worms out of. All of my plants are potted. He could've had a much better life with someone who can provide the best for him but I just HAD to get him.

I put in the air stone because I can't have a filter and I read that it helps keep the water cool (and by cool, I mean 27C) but that's only stressing it out more. All of the shrimp that was kept in a container with airhole died and one in the tank died which means the whole tank would be filled with dead shrimp if I put so many in without the air stone. I really don't know how I can keep the tank cooler than 27C without moving it to the aircon room at night. I have school 9 hours a day, I can only put in the ice cubes before I go out and when I come home.

I can't afford spring water and the tap water is horrible so the best I can do is RO water with some mineral water. I suck out the debris everyday and I just changed 20% of the water.

how many more plants can I fit in there without taking up his swimming place and giving him opportunity to climb higher up the walls? I'd use the other tank pictures as a guide but my tank is like 10 times smaller.

I've read both of those articles, I don't know how many times.I suppose I can go into the city this weekend to look.


thanks for your help. And I'm sorry if I came off negatively in any way. I'm just going through a tough time in my life and I thought that pets would help me cope but I've only dragged them into my minimal life. I feel bad for them. They deserve better.

 

[mark]

Hey Connie, I wasn't trying to make you feel bad. Apologies if I did. I was trying to make you see from the newts perspective why he may be stressed and not eating. A few people on this forum refer to it as "pet shop syndrome" and is common in wild caught newts sold in shops, one of many reasons to buy only captive bred animals. On the bright side many pet newts make it through this phase and lead healthy captive lives. Over time and with much patience on your behalf they can learn to eat frozen bloodworms, earthworms fed using tweezers and even associate you with feeding time rather than being nervous of you. Your biggest challenge is temperature.

 

[menwa]

Hey Connie, dont get so discouraged just yet. The good news is you can set up a nice tank for him for under 50 dollars give or take. Alot of pet shops sell 10 gallon tanks in starter kits for fish. For around 12 dollars US you'll get a 10 gallon and a buncha stuff you most likely dont need too lol. Grab some large gravel/stones, or even spend a day hunting down some stones at a lake. And while your at it throw a few bottles of water in your freezer so when you end up with your tank you can switch around and keep the water cool. Youd be surprized how long one bottle lasts and drops the temp pretty nicely

Dont be discouraged, chances are the person who would have bought your newt instead of you wouldnt have even bothered to look for this site or any information at all. I think you can pull this off and make it very happy

 

[terry]

Hello Connie!

It is always nice to see another malaysian in the forum. Sorry for not replying sooner. Our country as you know can supply almost anything suitable for a fire belly newt. When I still lived back home, I kept my newts in a setup somewhat simpler than yours: merely a tank with some water plants( Elodea) and an overturned flowerpot to serve as an island. On top of the island, i placed some moss i got my garden. Keeping my newts cool was a problem i faced too and in those days airconditioning would keep the temperature at 20 degrees celcius( at night). The tank was placed in the coolest part of the house where it does not get too much sunshine.

As far as I remember there are a lot of good shops in Bandar Utama or U2, IKANO ( the new buildings i saw the last time i was home?) It was Pet Safari or something along those lines. That place sold a LOT of items (even for the budgeted customer) suitable for amphibians. There is even Pet world in Megamall. I would recommend those places. My father still maintains my family of cynops orientalis and he purchases bloodworms and tubifex from a fish shop in Old Town. I would think that most fish shops still sell fresh bloodworms and tubifex.

As for plants, I guess you know most places in KL (suburbs or gardens) have Devil's Ivy (Pothos)

when time and money permits, you can set up a rather simple and affordable aquarium/ aquaterrarium for your newt with ease! Don't be dismayed. You'll be surprised what you will be capable of!

No need to spend hundreds of ringgit on a super expensive fancy setup! Keep in mind: Functional!

I wish you lots of luck. Hope I've been some help.

With best regards from Negeri Belanda,
Terry

p.s. If you go to a lake or pond ( Titiwangsa? Lake Gardens?) you can easily get some floating plants for your newt but be sure to rinse off the dirt with water! Do you use filtered water? What I did those days was to boil some water and leave it for a few days.

(Message edited by terryschild on October 13, 2005)

 

[joan]

No one's offered the easiest solution to lower tank temperatures yet. Get a small fan and position it ontop of the tank blowing over the water. This will drop the temperature significantly, but you'll have to replace water lost to evaporation more often.

Or if your newt is really stressed by the water, it's acceptable to put it on just a plain dirt setup.

 

[connie]

Mark,

No, it's not your fault that I felt bad. On the contrary,you've helped me alot, to understand my newt. I just felt sorry for the newt but I know he's my responsibility now and I won't give up on him. I'll try my best to make it work.

Menwa,

Thanks for the advice. Right now the size of the tank can't accomodate a bottle but I'll definitely do that when I get a bigger tank.

Terry,

It's good for me to see another Malaysian here too! I actually bought my fire-belly at Megamall's Pet Wonderland. I'm rather apalled by the information they gave me and also their lack of supplies considering how big their store is. I'm going to hunt for more fish stores. All 3 in my area don't carry live worms except for mealworms.

I think the plant problem can be solved. I have a rather large supply of pothos in my own mini garden. I'll ask my aunt if she has any small floating plants.

Thanks so much for the support. I'll try my best to make it work.

Joan S.,
}
Thanks. I'm actually doing that although it's not blowing directly on to the water because my fan can't bend that way but I've positioned it in a way that it's very windy at the tank area. The temperature that it managed to achive is 26C. And I"ve added another strand of pothos.

Thanks again everyone

 

[john]

I'm not too sure the evaporative cooling solution will work too well in the humid tropical conditions of Malaysia. Better than nothing though.

 

[connie]

John,

It's not very effective but 1-2C is better than nothing yeah?