Illness/Sickness: Parasite?

[teddyballgame15]

I just bought a couple of Chinese fire belly newts at a pet store I'm off about (my favorite and trusty pet store takes forever to get them in) and one of them is super thin, won't eat, and was too weak to swim to the surface when it was in my main tank. Realizing something is wrong, I have since moved it to a different tank and it pretty much just sits there. It didn't even finish its molt, it just left it hanging off of its leg. I did some research and my guess is that it has a parasite and will probably die. My question is what is that possibility that it gave my other newts the parasite? The other three fire bellies are fine and still eat and are their usual selves

 

[teddyballgame15]

That should say "iffy about" not off about

 

[Kaysie]

It's possible.

Unfortunately, newly imported newts often come loaded with parasites and in terrible condition. They often do not survive long.

In the future, you should quarantine all new animals for at least 30 days (if they appear healthy), or longer. If an animal appears ill, I would quarantine for at least 60 days post-treatment.

 

[teddyballgame15]

I suppose I learned the hard way. I'm pretty sure my go to pet store gets them from a breeder and the one I most recently purchased from pro have have wc newts... thumbs down. But thank you! I hope the others didn't get it

 

[evut]

No-one has ever heard of any breeders supplying pet stores. Most pet stores will lie if they think you want to hear that animals are captive bred. It's just a different batch of wild caught animals, or a weaker individual. Good luck with the newts.

 

[Kaysie]

Unfortunately, that's usually true. It's more often the case that the animals are not from a breeder. If they are indeed CB, the store should be happy to supply you with the breeder's information, hatching records, etc. If they can't, you're probably being duped into buying WC animals.

You can circumvent this by purchasing animals directly from a breeder. There are a few around.