Weird Firebelly

[dch75]

I've had three firebellies living in my 20 long tank with 2 chubby frogs living in the land area. All have been liveing in peace for a month now but a few days ago 1 of the fire bellies has been hanging out with the chubbies on land and has been missing its feedings. What should I do?

 

[Jennewt]

This might answer some of your questions about why it might be hanging out on land:
Caudata Culture - Frequently Asked Questions
To feed it, you will need to hand-feed with a toothpick/tweezers, or separate it and feed it small terrestrial food (fruit flies or very small crickets).

Regarding the mix of frogs and newts, this is something I would not recommend. One month isn't long enough to say if the mix will work in the long run. It seems risky.
Caudata Culture Articles - Species Mixing Disasters

 

[slowfoot]

I've kept chubby frogs and I've kept fire belly newts. And I can say without a doubt that even though their mouths appear small, a chubby frog is more than capable of eating or trying to eat a newt. My chubby frog was also not the most able swimmer, so I can't imagine her being able to get out of any water that would be deep enough to be adequate for the newts.

I would separate them before disaster happens.

 

[spendday]

probably a sign of stress or illness. Don't chubbies like it a little warm for fire belly newts? I thought temperatures were 23-26C during the day dropping to 18-20C at night

 

[vistajpdf]

Be sure the water chemistry is fine. It's not a good sign when a previously-aquatic newt takes to the land. This happened to me and it didn't have a happy ending, despite my attempts to feed him and coax him back into the water. I tried earthworms and wax worms. He barely ate. One day, he was back in the water, but deceased. I hope you have better luck. I've had my younger newts take to land periodically and be fine, but once adults, they shouldn't leave the water for an extended amount of time. I've also seen newts refuse to go into the water if stressed after a move or something. My original pair stayed on land for well over a month when we first got them.

I'm sorry, but I have to agree that I wouldn't mix species, as nice as the set-up is to observe. Besides the temperature differences, there seem to be too many instances of one species being eaten by the other.

Good luck,
Dana