New Chinese Fire Belly Newt Owner

[Scorpion]

I recently went to the pet store and bought 2 fire belly newts, Chinese ones. The next day I went back and bought the last one, because I felt bad for it because it was alone and had a missing leg. The first two look rather healthy, if not a little skinny. Although one has some toes on one foot missing. And most of the time they just lounge around on the rock I put in there, near the moss. One's in the water on top of some moss right now though. The third one has what looks like a sore on his back. It's a white spot. He also has a missing limb, and what looks like two bones sticking out the end, although I'm not sure because he's so small. They're all about 2 inches, so I'm guessing they're young. The third one is more active than the other two. He swims around on the bottom a lot, though looks like he has some trouble because of his missing leg. I've been feeding them some ReptoMin sinking granules, and some dried bloodworms. I also put some feeder guppies in there, because my grandma said she read that the newts eat those. I'm not entirely sure about that though. I'm also not entirely sure they're all guppies either. Most of them look like baby zebra danios. I don't know though. My biggest concern is that I'm not feeding them what I should be feeding them. I read that frozen bloodworms are a good thing to feed them, so the next time I go to the pet store I'll get some if they have it. But I don't know about the live foods like black worms and live bloodworms though. I don't know if any of the local stores have any of that. If anyone could give me some pointers, that would be great. Also, do I need a heater? The room they're kept in is almost always at about 74 degrees F, so I don't think it's really necessary at the moment, so I wasn't worried about it.

 

[Otterwoman]

They sound so little I think that bloodworms and feeder fish would be too big. I would recommend you remove the fish. They might stress or pick at the newts. I would try feeding them minced earthworms in a jar on its side (for easy removal of uneaten worms). Also, look around for blackworms, if you can find them, they are also good for little newts.

 

[Scorpion]

I forgot to add that the newt with the missing leg is also skinnier than the other two, and that it says on the ReptoMin container that it's for amphibians like frogs and newts.

What should I do with the fish? The only other places I have to put them are the tank with the turtles, where they'll get eaten for sure, and the community fish tank, but all the fish are so big in that one that they'll probably get eaten. Maybe they'll be able to hide though? I dunno.

Also, I wanted to get a mystery snail, maybe two, for the newt tank so that they'll clean up any uneaten foodstuffs. Would that be a bad idea?

 

[Scorpion]

Also, by minced do you mean cut up into tiny pieces, or mashed?

 

[EasternNewtLove]

The one missing a leg would have been the first one I bought XD I have a strange connection with animals missing legs. I have an african clawed frog missing a leg and had a frog who had a messed up leg once.

 

[Scorpion]

Sorry for the triple posting, if that's how this turns out. I would have edited my first post, but it wasn't there for me to edit. It and the second post were still waiting to be approved by a mod or something. Anyway, if I'm supposed to cut the worms up, how little should I make the pieces? Thanks for all the help.

 

[Scorpion]

Picture of the newt with the broken leg with a penny next to him/her for size comparison:

Sorry for the quality. I don't have a camera that takes good quality pictures.

 

[Molch]

Hi Scorpion,
check out this care info for chinese fire bellies:

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

also, check out articles on water quality and how to cycle a new aquarium. These are important to prevent buildup of ammonia in the tank which could further stress the newts:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/waterquality.shtml

Newts from pet shops are usually in very poor shape, due to the rough conditions under which they were imported and incorrect care at the pet shop. Many are skinny, stressed, and have bacterial infections. The one with the sore might have such an infection; it is wise to separate it from the others and maybe treat the sore. If you make a search in this forum for "sore" or "infection", you should get some treatment suggestions.

The missing leg should grow back in time, providing good food, clean water and that the newt is otherwise healthy.

Since these were pet shop newts who've had a rough few weeks or months since being captured, your first priority is to get them stable, comfortable and eating nutritious foods. Frozen bloodworms aren't bad, but earthworms are better. You can get Canadian nightcrawlers at bait shops or even at Walmart. They are big worms, so yes, you have to cut them into tiny pieces using a razor blade and some tweezers. I'd say a piece about half to one third the size of a newt's head is good. They can eat much bigger pieces, but it's easier to start small so they don't get discouraged. You might have to wiggle pieces in front of the newts with tweezers or a wire to get the newts to noitice them. You can store the worms in the fridge; they die if kept above 60 F or so. Live blackworms are also pretty good.

Newts don't need heaters; in fact, they are cold-water creatures who will be much healthier at lower temperatures. Pet shops often keep them much too warm, which is one reason for the poor shape they are in. For chinese fire bellies, it's best to keep them around 60-70 F.

Anyway, hope that helps and good luck with your little guys!

 

[Scorpion]

Thanks for all the help everyone! But could someone tell me whether or not it's okay to keep a mystery snail or two with my newts? I really need to know because my grandma unexpectedly bought a couple for me today.

EDIT: Also, do newts only eat in the water, or will they also eat on land?

EDIT: Is it alright if I put the chopped up pieces of worm in the water? The newts'll find it, right?

EDIT: I also have a filter in there. That's alright, right? The moving water won't bother them, will it?

 

[Azhael]

The snails won´t necessarily be a problem although depending on species they may require different conditions and not do well with the newts.

You can throw the worm pieces in the water and the movement and smell will atract the newts. You can also offer them with tweezers.

Better not to use a filter. They don´t like currents and the poor newts are stressed enough, they don´t need more.

The missing limb, digits and the sore sound like they could be caused by flesh eating bcteria in which case the chances of those poor newts are not good at all. Keep them cool, with water quality as perfect as you can manage, low light and try to avoid stress to all costs, they really need to have their stress levels lowered so that their inmune system has any chance at all.

 

[Scorpion]

Thank you! You're all very helpful.

EDIT: The injured newt is as good as dead. It's completely motionless except that it's wiggled its tail a few times. My grandma still thinks it's going to make it. It just needs rest or to eat or something, but I'm pretty sure it's not. I figured this would happen when I bought an injured one. What're ya gonna do?

 

[Scorpion]

The injured newt died. I'm so sad. I expected this to happen, but I was hoping the poor thing would make it. I hope that I at least gave it a good last few days, as apposed to spending its last few days in a tiny container at the pet store. At least the other two are looking good. Except that one is still missing a few toes on one foot, but I think the newt'll be okay and grow them back. They both still don't go into the water much either, but I'm sure they will eventually. Just need to be patient.

RIP third newt...

 

[Molch]

don't worry too much; it was likely past hope already when you buy it.

Watch the one with missing toes closely: do the tips look whitish or fuzzy? Hopefully it's not the same thing that felled the third newt. Some of my fire bellies are missing toes too and always have (I've had them for 13 years), so it's not necessarily an infection. But if it starts looking like one, best separate him from the other newt.

 

[Scorpion]

I'll keep that in mind. I can't see his injured foot at the moment, so I can't distinguish if it's an infection or not, but as soon as I get the chance, I'll check. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: I just got a better look at the injured newt. I don't think he's got an infection. Not completely sure, but I don't think so. However, he is looking quite a bit skinnier than the other one. I can see his bones showing through his skin. Is that bad? What should I do?

 

[Scorpion]

I'm not sure which newt is which now. The one I was talking about in my previous post has a missing foot, and some toes on his other feet missing, and it does kinda look like the end of his leg where the missing foot would be is whitish. He's the skinny one. The other one does look like he has some toes missing, but I don't think he has the whitish stuff. I'm not sure though.

EDIT: I'm thinking now that maybe the filter was too powerful and that they were getting stuck in it. Maybe that's how the skinny one lost his foot and some of his toes? I don't know. I took the filter out though. They should be alright now, I hope.

EDIT: Maybe that's how the other one got weak and died!? Oh, now I feel bad that I didn't take it out when you guys said I should... My grandma told me I should leave it in there, that I was doing alright, but you guys are experts. Should've listened to you...

 

[Molch]

I would separate the skinny one with the missing parts from the other one. It does sound as though he may have the same bacterial infection. He may die too; better brace yourself. So it often goes with pet shop newts. There are treatment options, but many are of limited success. I don't have much experience with them myself, but if you make a search on this site, you should find some suggestions.

If this turns out to be a bad experience, don't let it discourage you from newt keeping. If you get healthy newts from a private reputable breeder (many advertise on this site), they will be very hardy and live many years. Newts have been known to live in captivity for 25 or more years. It's just that pet shop newts have usually been through too much stress and false treatment before they get to people's home, and by then they are often already fatally diseased.

 

[AngieD]

I'd like to second that - separate them just in case.

If they do pass away, however, make sure you thoroughly clean the tank before putting any more in, other keepers on this site should be able to reccommend the best way to disinfect a tank.

 

[tmarmoratus]

Truth be told, it would have been better to let them die at the pet store. By purchasing sick/dying newts, you've only encouraged the pet store to continue it's awful practices.

 

[Azhael]

I have to agree with tmarmoratus. I completely understand the impulse to buy them and give them a chance, i really do, but in the end you are sending the message to the pet-shop that they can make a buck even from clearly ill animals. Some other poor newts will replace them soon. It´s hard and infuriating, but if nobody buys them and they die at the shop, at least they might stop ordering them.

 

[Molch]

Truth be told, it would have been better to let them die at the pet store. By purchasing sick/dying newts, you've only encouraged the pet store to continue it's awful practices.

I have to agree with tmarmoratus. I completely understand the impulse to buy them and give them a chance, i really do, but in the end you are sending the message to the pet-shop that they can make a buck even from clearly ill animals. Some other poor newts will replace them soon. It´s hard and infuriating, but if nobody buys them and they die at the shop, at least they might stop ordering them.

aah, yes, you're right of course - but let's not make the OP feel any worse about it. I guess he's new to newts and didn't know any better about pet shop newts. Most of us have made that mistake at some point. So let's hope at least one of these does recover and if not, that he'll have more luck with captive-bred newts in the future