Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just recently bought a newt that was called a warty newt at the pet store I purchased her from (I'm assuming it's a her; for now we'll go with it.)She has a crest going down the middle of her back, a yellow belly with black splotches, and a sort of orangish stripe going down her back as well. Other than that she's brown, and very thin. I can clearly count her ribs and to be frank about it she has a very bony butt. At the store she shared a tank with a bunch of toads and the owner said that she was purchased about six months ago with three other newts, and the newts and toads resided together. He also told me that I should feed her small worms from the bait shop and that I didn't need to cut them up. At home the newt snatched up a worm right away (after blowing off a coupla crickets) and began swallowing it...But after a long struggle with that she spit the whole thing back up. I don't know if this is incidental or not, but she spit the worm back up right after I brought the newt that was residing in the tank previosuly to her out of his hiding spot to feed him, as well. He's smaller and they haven't made any lunges at each other, but I thought either the worm was too big or she brought it back up so she could be ready to fight if need be when the other newt resurfaced. Either way, her thinness concerns me. She looks undernourished to me, and she moves more slowly and stumbles more than any newt I've ever seen before. Does anyone know if it's possible that she's supposed to look anorexic, and if not, what do I do to fatten her up?

P.S.-- I already tried cutting up the worms and trying to feed her with that, but she wasn't interested.

your other smaller newt is in danger. First, it is in danger of being injured or eaten. Second, it is in danger from whatever germs and parasites the new newt might have. Third, it is in danger just from the stress of having to share the tank with a larger amphibian.

Regarding feeding, keep trying with the pieces of earthworm! If possible, put some pieces that are still wiggling in front of the newt and leave it undisturbed (and perhaps unwatched). Also you could try a small waxworm or crickets. It probably spat the worm out simply because it was too big. Newts that have been starved (and yours sounds like it was - it's not normal to be that skinny) need to get used to eating gradually, beginning with small meals. Good luck!

Thank you for the suggestions, but I'm afraid it's too late. The newt died yesterday. ): I cried beacuse I feel like if I had just known more and tried more, I could have gotten the newt to eat enough to stay alive and gain enough weight to live a normal life. It also makes me very angry that a beautiful animal that is supposed to live 20 years or more is starved to death in a tank full of frogs. I wouldn't want to be thrown into a cage full of aggressive monkeys and be expected to hold my own weight because I'm somehow similiar to monkeys and "in the wild" I'm able to feed myself in a world that also contains monkeys. It just makes me angry.

Onto the smaller newt. I think I just got lucky because the bigger newt was too weak to fight. Nothing happened to him, and I've thoroughly cleaned out the cage just in case something other than lack of food killed the bigger newt. Of course, the little newt won't eat either; I've tried live crickets, frozen blood worms, and cut up earthworms thus far, but no go yet. I'm going to get some mealworms and whatever other smaller worms I can get in my area or off the internet. Does anyone have any further suggestions? (I suspect part of it is just all the stress of the new guy, but I'll be damned if I let this one die, too).

(A bitter side note: I called up a local vet to ask her about the bigger newt before she died, and she said she didn't know very much about newts but to call up this specific pet store and ask the guy there because he'd know. Unfortunately, he was the guy that starved the newt near death in the first place.)