New Owner Questions

[Nationtastic]

Hello! I recently got some fire belly newts as a present for Christmas. I love having them, and I want to keep them healthy, but I've never had them or anything similar before, so I'm asking general advice here. My newts were bought from a pet store which, after some googling, I hear is not optimal. They seem to be healthy and fairly amicable, active newts, but I don't know the exact type or the sexes. I've only had them for a week or so, and thus far, I've been feeding them a 1/4 of a cube of frozen bloodworms daily as per the pet store's instructions.

Any general advice, instruction, or (especially) help with sexing/typing would be MUCH appreciated. If the pictures I have are insufficient, let me know what would be helpful, and I'll do my best.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Here is a caresheet that should really help you out.

 

[evut]

In addition to the care sheet, read these articles. They will probably answer most of your questions for now.
I don't know where the photos were taken but if that's their tank you'll need to work on that a bit to give them a suitable and stimulating environment (look at the articles in the "Housing" section).

 

[Kribby]

Welcome to the newt world. I am pleased to see that you are taking such an active approach to learning about your new wet pets. Newts can be a great pet, but perhaps not the best random pet to spring on someone without preparation. The important thing though, is that you are willing to learn about them and their needs.

The nice things with firebellies is that they don't seem to care what the gender ratio they are housed with is. After a bit of reading you might be able to sex them yourself, they aren't too difficult. Unfortunately, from the pictures, I can't really help you in that regard. They do look pretty healthy though. Nice and plump little fellows

 

[Nationtastic]

Thank you for the responses, everyone. Yes, that's their tank, but just the corner of it . Most of the tank has rocks and plants and , in the other corner, a turtle dock. I haven't completed the tank the way I'd like it, but I'm doing my best to get it there. The articles were definitely helpful for ideas, though, thank you!