Photo: What's this guy!?

dannyjsanchez

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I've been looking around and I think it's P. chinensis. Am i right?
We bought (him) at an aquarium store nearby but the guys there really were of no help. I'd like to make this guy happy...
2 in 1 post: he's got a little grey spot on him that wasn't there yesterday. what could that be? it's on his back. he got out of the tank and seems to be alright, but now he's got a spot. it looks very ashy.
what could that be?
newty01.jpg
 
That is Paramesotriton chinensis. As for the spot, can you post a picture of it?
 
thanks for the reply. here's a couple of views:
newty02.jpg


newty03.jpg
 
I'm not sure what causes it but it seems to be very common in recent WC imports. One of mine had it but has since recovered just fine. Just make sure it remains well fed, your water stays cool, and clean. It should heal with no problems as well.
 
thanks for such a quick reply. we'll do all that and keep posted.
sites like this and users like you are invaluable to newbies- and niche things like this.
 
The area grew about 2mm in diameter, got a few shades darker and has since, remained the same size.
We'll see. He's eating bloodworms from the tweezers.

Can I give you some background and you tell me what you think?
As I mentioned before- the store I bought it from were not very newt-informed. So they told me: full aquatic, no land needed, they'll escape if you left them, 75F, bloodwoms.

So this newt has been in my 60 gallon, with all my other fish; doing laps, hobnobbing with all the fish, eating cardinals tetras, and having a blast- at 74-78F (for about 2 months).
We've given him his own tank at 70F (which we've been preparing for him), and he sits there- doesn't go above water and rarely moves- even before he developed this lesion. It's a 10 gallon, but there's all this room, and he doesn't move. He stays below water and sits.

BTW, i've had a hard time finding a care sheet for P. chinensis.
 
Sadly, keeping it with fish and at those temps was a big mistake :S
These guys need COLD. Anything above 22ºC is potentially dangerous, specially for animals that are not perfectly healthy.

The ideal temp is below 20ºC. So, i´d try to lower the tmep in his tank a bit, since it will feel much better and it will boost it´s inmune system. IF the infected area shows no signs of recovery or continues to grow, you may need to give the newt salt baths (you can find info on that around the forum), or maybe fridge it. Hopefully you won´t need to resort to that.

Bloodworms are fine but can never be an staple, because they are not nutritionally complete. Get some earthworms. they are the ideal caudate food. They are nutritious, rich in calcium, and all caudates find them irrisistable. Since variety is always best, you can suplement it´s diet with waxworms, small crickets, blackworms, small slugs, isopods....

They are indeed very aquatic and in ideal conditions they will very rarely go on land (if ever), so you can consider it 100% aquatic. It´s a rather inactive species. They like to hide and stalk for prey, so don´t be surprised if it moves little.

It´s a bit late now, but you might want to consider changing the substrate. Gravel fo that size can be ingested causing impaction and even death. also, it traps dirt and uneaten food in huge amounts which then compromises your water quality. Fine sand is a far better option for a substrate.
Since in order to recover your newt needs as perfect conditions as posible, i would encourage you to add hides if there aren´t any already. They are territorial (and agressive towards other newts, even their own species) so they very much like to have their own hides to feel secure. That will contribute in reducing stress and giving a break to it´s inmune system.

PS: sadly there is no caresheet for any Paramesotriton on CC but you can find a wealth of information around the forum, specially in the section dedicated to Paramesotriton and close relatives.
 
It looks like it was some kind wound that is scabbing over now. it looks stable enough.
i have put him in a 70F tank for the last couple of days with a very sandy bottom and some hides.
i'll definitely get some earthworms for him. (him = i read the articles on sexing)
i feel better about his inactivity though. he's alert but just hangs out.
he's very animated for feeding.
thanks for the info.
he's in his own tank, alone and 70F. let's hope the aquarium store mis-information won't hurt the little guy too much.
 
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