Question: Teeny tiny eastern newts

[kewzoo]

I have an Eastern newt about 31/2" long, the same size I used to find in ponds in my youth and kept as pets long ago. I just ordered and received 2 more adult Eastern newts and when they arrived I was very surprised. They are tiny! They are tinier than I remember red efts being. Maybe 2" long, they are very slender with tiny limbs. One is a slightly reddish color.

My question: could they just be much younger than my original newt, and just recently finished with the eft part of their lives? OR, could these be the individuals I've heard of who, for one reason or another, have gone directly into adulthood from the larval stage, skipping the eft stage altogether?

Just curious. Thanks for any response to this newbie on the forum!

 

[Otterwoman]

They sound like new morphs. When they first morph they are not red yet. That develops with time and age. Good luck. These small efts are difficult to raise.

 

[kewzoo]

Thanks for your answer. In fact, both tiny newts just died yesterday, about which I'm very sad. I'm posting a picture here showing the contrast between the newts.

And here's a close-up of the little one:

Do the pictures confirm what you suspected?

On another note: does the color of the big newt seem weirdly pale to you? I keep wondering if he/she is getting lighter & lighter and if that means I'm doing something terrible.
Thanks to you or anyone who can respond!

(Darn it-how do I get the pictures to post? In any case, they're in my album: http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/kewzoo/albums/troubles/ )

 

[Otterwoman]

The one on the left looked terrible, all bones. The one on the right looks like a normal healthy adult (though I can't see how big it is, if it's really tiny, it looks like a normal healthy morph). No one is really sure what the issue is with raising them, why it is so difficult. I'm really sorry for this experience for you.

 

[Lertsch]

I think the pale coloration can be normal. One of my Eastern Newts (of the Central Newts variety) is the same coloration as the picture you posted and has been doing well for over a year now.

You say they both died already? Sorry to hear that. Where/who did you order them from?

 

[kewzoo]

Thanks for replies!

Let me clarify--the newt on the right is still alive and doing fine. I got her/him from Backwater Reptiles.
I then ordered 2 more "adult" newts from Reptilesncritters, and got 2 surprisingly frail-looking skinny ones (one of those is the newt on the left in the picture). Those 2 have died this week.

I took the picture to show the contrast between the newts.

I'm glad the color on my healthy newt is okay!

Thanks,
Katharine

 

[astamir]

Well, I don't know what to say regarding your teeny tiny ones, but if you are having a hard time getting the adults to eat, I may be able to help. I have had my newts for 14 years and when I first got them, the firebellies were fine, but for some reason the eastern newts (greenish yellow with orange spots) wouldn't eat. It was like they didn't understand the concept. I don't know how the pet store that I got them from had managed to keep them alive that long (they were full-grown, so obviously they had been eating something...) but neither of them would eat a bite. At that point I was feeding my firebellies baby crickets. But both of the easterns were getting so skinny and looked like they were at deaths' door... one of them actually did die and after that happened I was determined to "save" the other one. Here is what I did. I noticed that he was attracted to (interested in) movement. So I got some frozen bloodworms, thawed them out, and kind of draped a few of them over a fork, and trailed them along in front of them. He followed them for what seemed like hours before it occured to him to take a bite. Well after that first bite, it was like something clicked in his little newt brain, and he was like "oh, this is food". The time I had to spend trailing the worms in front of him rapidly decreased with each feeding, and he moved up to live bloodworms in no time at all. I still feed them each individually, a blob of worms on a tiny fork held in front of their face for a few seconds before they get a mouthful. No feeding problems since. just thought this might help since I saw in one of your replies up there that they looked really skinny... I wasn't able to view the pictures myself for some reason. Hope this helps.