New in the newts, kind of a bad beginning

[stefania]

Hello! I just found out a couple of hours ago that I've got two newts! And I am completely fascinated... They're wonderful!... I love them!!.... but unfortunately I don't know anything, or at least not much about them. I'd like to change that though, so I've been reading about them now for at least nine hours straight

thinking about calling in sick to read some more cause I really just can't stop

Anyway the reason for my newts' existence is that I’ve got a fish tank and I bought some catfish the other day and I saw this cute little salamander and bought it too, the guy at the petshop said it would be okey for me to put it in that big tank of mine with the thirty or so fish in it. Well it wasn't. It didn't eat anything and just floated around after a couple of days or so, so I put it into another tank and went back to the petshop to buy some special food for it, the guys said it was supposed to just eat the flaky fish food so I came back home with just 3 new salamanders, one small one like the dying one from the fish tank, and two big ones(P.Hongkongensis) and put them in the new tank.
Hehe.... wow, the guys said it would be okey to mix them together, and that they didn’t need any airpump or filter or anything like that cause it had lungs and it would go to the surface to breath. Just water and that they would eat the flaky food. They even said I could put them in the fish tank if I wanted. YEAH! The day after I put them in the tank the two little ones got eaten, and I found out that those creatures didn’t really like the flaky food cause they weren’t eating it, or was it because there wasn’t any oxygen in the water and it was rotten or god knows what, at least I don’t think that smell was just ’’amphibian <font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font>-smell’’.

I’ve had them now for about five days and they just looked miserable and weren’t moving or anything(they didn’t even move if I picked them up, and one of them was also starting to float) so there had to be something wrong. Looks to me now that I just shouldn’t keep pets at all, at least I think I had a heart attack when I found out all the things I was doing wrong. And thank god I’ve got a fish tank and that I live in Iceland so the tapwater’s fresh(don’t have to wait a day to pour it in or mix it with other chemicals). Anyway I grabbed my probably dying newts and ripped the airpump out of the fish tank, poured most of the water out of the newt tank, put new water and stuck the airpump in it. There's some current in the water but at least they look alive now, standing on they’re feet and walking around and they ate some of the frozen shrimp I just bought. And there’s also a big rock in there so there’s very little current behind that one.
But I’m so happy that they aren’t as miserable anymore and I’m going back to the petshop tomorrow to get the right stuff for them, and some plants and food that they actually like (not talking about baby salamanders now), guess I have to find some new names for them too, since Alexander the Salamander isn’t working out anymore.
But please give some advice or something!!(black-eyes respectfully declined, some of you are probably yearning to give me one) I’m going to keep on reading now....}

 

[ali]

Hi Stefania. Or, do you go by Steffy? Anyway, I'm glad (and I'm sure we all are) that you ended up on this forum. This place is absolutely wonderful. If you have more questions, post them to the help section here. You'll get quick responses.

I'm not sure what kinds of food are available in Iceland, but if you can get ahold of them, I would recommend earthworms (chopped) and live blackworms. Use a food dish so the uneaten food doesn't end up all over the tank. This would ruin the water quality.

I don't have much advice for you. If you've read for seven hours, I figure you have already come across the following, but I'll send them along just in case.

Caudata Culture articles page (they taught me all I know here!):http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/articles.shtml

Here is the warty newt section of the forum: http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/27446.html?1152283322

One last note is that it's very important to successfully determine what species you have so that you can be sure to care for it properly. Don't know how it goes in Iceland, but around here (and in most places) pet shop people are never correct. (And, judging by your experiences so far, Iceland is no exception.) So, look around at the photos and be sure that's the species you really have.

Good luck!

 

[ian]

Just a few head start in case you have not read about them yet.

Do use a cover for the tank, cause caudata is great escape artist.
Keep the water cool. And make sure your tank is cycled.
If you cant get earthworm or black worm. You may try bloodworm.
I hope you are not mixing species anymore already. If you do better remove that.
I think your fishes will need the oxygen more than the newt. The petshop is at least right for that one, airpump is not neccessary for the newts.
Float is sometime natural if the newt is stress or has been on the land for a while. How about you describe a bit of their original conditions when you see them in the petstore.

 

[stefania]

I'm pretty sure it's a paramesotriton hongkongensis cause I've gone through a lot of pictures and they just look exactly like the P.hongkongensis.
About the food, I know they've got at least mealworms at the petshop and some other worm species(in his weird way of flirting the petshop guy was showing me worms and beetles for half an hour)
And of course in case of emergency I can always just grab a shovel and attack the backyard,got a good collection there

.
The tank's covered, the water's cool, only one species in the tank now since they ate the other ones and I'm really happy now that I didn't put them in the fish tank.
About the fish, I had an extra airpump for emergencies so they're just fine, I think
At least the newts look a lot better now. They're so pretty!! I can't stop staring at them!

I'm so happy I found this forum! Thank you!

 

[karen]

The only things I can add is:
1. DO NOT trust the advice of pet shop employees. Most of them know NOTHING about newts or salamanders (as evidenced by the person who told you it would be ok to put them in the same tank with 30 fish!) Unless you know of someone in a pet store that is truly knowledgeable (there are some out there), it would be much better to ask questions here on caudata or continue your reading.

2. Try to purchase a water testing kit so you can regularly check on pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. These readings are important. Also make sure you have a thermometer to check on temperatures.

3. If you haven't already, pick up some plants (live is fine, but silk or plastic is ok too). My tank has a mix of live and fake and the newts love them.

Good luck with the little guys! They do bring a ton of joy into the household!

 

[jeff]

Stefania, after reading your post I should hope that you've learned the valuable lesson that some new hobbyists have had to learn- don't obtain the newt until after you have the knowledge on how to care for it.

With that being said, welcome to the board. We have very knowledgeable people here, so if you ever need help or advise you can get it on this forum.

 

[steffy]

Oh my god... I was reading an Icelandic forum for caudate owners... nobody really knows anything... a lot of them have FBN and FBT mixed together, don't have a lid on the tank, don't have a clue about the required temperature... and reading the threads I don't really see anybody posting any answers or recommendations, besides the girl who recommended somebody who was having a problem with feeding her toad to ''make somebody hold it and open it's mouth with tweezers and force it to eat''
I can see a lot of people posting about their newt escaping or dying... but nobody telling them why...

:S .....

Also, they only have mealworms here so I was thinking if I could order some blackworms or bloodworms from England... I tried feeding them mealworms but they just spat them out, looks like they weren't able to eat them... I'm going to try to see if they will eat any of the frozen shrimp... it could be just stress, but they seemed REALLY hungry when I got them cause they ate the other two smaller ones, plus dried shrimp and they literally attacked the fish flakes, but now they aren't eating anything... I'm going to try to look for other soft worms tomorrow or just dry food if I can't find anything...

 

[steffy]

That's what they looked like when I got them... they look better now.... but I still find them looking horrible

 

[ali]

Hey Seffy. The newt pellets aren't great (far from it,) but it may be worth it to you to give them a try. If they will eat those while you work on finding a source for worms, that would be good. Some people try to mush them up a bit. Since they float, you'd probably have to feed in a separate container. Just a thought.

 

[jennifer]

Can you obtain live earthworms (outside, or sold as fishing bait)? Frozen bloodworms? See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml

In the photo, the water looks a bit cloudy, has that cleared up? And do the newts go into the water now?

 

[steffy]

THEY ARE EATING!!! I fed them soft worms I dug up in my backyard and they ate them all (all as in all the eight worms that I found) but they are eating though!!

About the water, the picture was taken like two days after I got them, before I wrote the first message, before I found out about the water conditions for these guys, but it's all better now, I've put new water in and got a filter, so the water's smooth and shiny and they're spending almost all they're time in the water.
so they must like it....

They also seem to be extremely regardless and rude to each other, if they want to go somewhere they don't hesitate to just step on each other's head or stand on top of them... At least I would find it a problem if my roommate would just come and sit on my face if I was lying in the sofa or something... or literally just ''walk me down'' if I was in the way.... come to think about it, I think he would also consider it a problem if I'd constantly go around on four legs....

Now I think I better head to the backyard again and dig up the rest of the flowerbed

 

[fiona]

Hi Steffy,
My tarichas, and my old hongkong would eat mealworms, but I had to crush their heads...it puts some people off, but that's the way they would take them. I'm in a dry part of Canada, and earthworms (love 'em as they do) are often really hard to find. My tarichas enjoy waxworms, but they'd be hard for a smaller newt to swallow. My guys are always stomping all over each other, too. No respect for personal space :~). Also, I can sometimes catch a flying bug & hand feed it to them, Mine will only ever be hand fed...spoiled, spoiled!