Petstores are dumb

[erik]

I went to the local pet store today, and as usual, it was run by folks who know even less than me about caring for newts. Fortunately, these guys were at least smart enough to give them some land to crawl onto, but unfortunately that land was directly under the light which was fortunately fluorescent. The thing that pissed me off the most, though was the fact that they had a heater in the water and the temperature was almost 76 degrees in the tank. There were about 3 firebellies in the tank and I was tempted to buy them and bring them home just to get them out of the sauna they were in. But until I can get my water temperature down just a bit lower, I'm not trying anything. My t. granulosa might not play nice with them anyway considering how small they are.

 

[jennifer]

That's sad, but not unusual. You're right, you should not mix these species, or any for that matter. Also, newly-bought newts (even if they were the same species as yours) would need to be quarantined for several weeks because they often carry disease, which could infect your newts.

Next time, I would suggest politely asking to speak to the aquarium manager and pointing out that the heater is harmful to these animals.