New Fire Bellies

[Amphibians]

I just purchased two fie belly newts from a local pet store the other day, I wouldn't normally get my amphibians from a pet store but I dont have any CB's available to me. They are a 2.5 glass terrarium for now until I get a bigger. It is about 60/40 water/land. They dont seem to go into the water very much, I've read some dont very often and that they just need to get settled in first as well. They have been here about three days. Also the water has a sheen on the surface and I'm not sure what it is. I'm not using any new components from my other tanks, anyone experience this before? Also anybody how long it takes them to get settled in? Also how long should I wait to feed them they havent been fed once yet. Lots of questions, they are my first newts, thanks!

 

[Lusiwarrior]

Hi Amphibians,
to post pics of them or you say the size of them you will help us to help thyself!
No, because we know what the exact species and are still in the land or not is difficult to give an opinion!

 

[Azhael]

You sure had CB C.orientalis available, you just needed to look a bit harder!
What do you mean by 2.5 terrarium? is that feet? gallons?
The bare minimum for a pair should be about 10 gallons of water. They are 100% aquatic once they settle in, but recently bought animals are usually too stressed and often sick, and so they go into terrestrial phase (skin becomes slightly granulated and hydrophobic). In order to get them to go aquatic again, you need to provide excelent water quality and housing. For that, you need to cycle the tank.
The film over the water is a proteic derivate from bacterial decomposition of organic matter in the water. To avoid it, keep a strict cleaning routine of left-over foods.

Make sure to read the CC caresheet for Cynops orientalis, and read as much as you can on this forum. There is A LOT of information on this species here, and the more you read and learn, the better chance of taking good care for your newts you´ll have.

 

[Amphibians]

Well i guess specifically what I meant is that they werent available to me anywhere locally, where I wouldnt have to pay a large shipping fee. All my local reptile expos are pretty terrible when it comes to amphibians, especially caudates. What I dont understand is that I didnt feed anything to them since they arrived, so what would be breaking down in the water? Also when I removed them today to clean and change the setup around alitte, the film was on their bodies, might they be shedding? I'm not sure if they do shed, but my other amphibians certainly do.

And yeah 2.5 is in gallons, It is a temperory setup while I get together a ten gallon.