Rescued a C. Orientalis from the pet shop

[Orvilleberta]

Rescued a C. Orientalis from the pet shop (It is definitely sick)

Well, in remembrance and honor of my previous newt Orville's death, I purchased a newt from a very dirty pet shop.

My question is : Does anyone have any recommendations for care? It has a sore on his face and two white patches on his tail. The petstore owner said they are "snail patches," but I beg to differ.

Their setup consists of connected plexiglass tanks, filtering the same water through a variety of different species (crayfish, crabs, frogs, toads, axolotls...).

I saw that there were three dead newts rotting in their newt encasement, one one well on its way. The dead newts had a cloudy fungus growing on them.

I took a chance and thought what the hell... Even if this newt dies, it will sure as heck have a better chance if I took him out of there.

It is currently in quarantine by a cool window with some nice clean water. I fed it some bloodworms and it ate them almost immediately. It seemed much happier once I fed it.

I currently have one newt living successfully in a planted aquarium. Hopefully Hanz, the new newt will join him. Attached is a picture of what I call my "newt haven."

I don't have a working internet connection at home so I'm limited to posting what I have in my phone right now. I'll post a picture of Hanz the sick newt later .

(btw I think this community is awesome. I've just gotten into the world of newts after caring for freshwater planted aquariums)

 

[Azhael]

That´s terrible...
I can understand why you took it home....however i have to say it wasn´t the best thing to do....
Yes, you´ve given the poor fella a chance, and that´s brilliant, but you´ve also demonstrated to the pet-shop owners that they can even sell dying newts. That means that they´ll get more, and they´ll treat just as horribly as they have treated the ones you saw.....and the circle of cruelty continues......

Do not put the two newts together until the new arrival is fully quarantined and you are sure it´s healthy. If it´s got sores, they could well be passed to the other newt. Do not take risks.

As for the tank, it´s lovely but i have a few suggestions if i may...
First, is the water level....you really need more water! The more water the better
I consider that the minimum for even a single Cynops orientalis should be a standard 38l tank. This is so that maintenance of water quality is easy, and that the newt has enough space.
Also, one should never use deep layers of gravel. It traps dirt in enormous quantities, and then in the deeper parts, anaerobic conditions may appear, leading to a crash in the water quality. Sand is a much much better choice as substrate, but if you want to use gravel, use a layer no deeper than an inch.
I hope that helped. Best of lucks!

 

[Orvilleberta]

Hey azhael,

thanks for the tips!

More water? I'll give it a shot. I actually thought I had too much! The little guys seem to have some trouble gasping air.

The gravel is currently about 1.5 inches deep - is it critical that I get it down to a 1 inch height? Wish I had known about this, I wouldn't have planted so much.

I do have a question on my future plans for this setup: I was considering attaching some moss to the log to absorb some of th current. Is this a bad idea?

I'm always brushing the moss with my hands and cleansing the gravel by agitating the top surface.

Also, is bactine ok to soak newts in?

Thanks so much for all your help

 

[Crysta]

I don't know 'bactine'

Moss is usualy alright, try java moss?

but yes try to get 1 inch of gravel, mabey if you think they need more land, get some stiff plants for them to climb out of the water onto.

Unfortunatly alot of petshops don't seem to look after all of their animals correctly,

(one tried to sell me a heater for amphibians!)

Keep the 'damaged' on quarentined like azhael said, that seems the best thing.

your newt haven is very pretty.
all hope for Hanz.