Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a two newts, both firebelley newts. I just put in the second one and they both seem to get along fine but recently my first newt, norbert, has been having problems. He keeps getting stuck in his rocks and will go into his favorite cave and stay in there for weeks on end. When i clean the tank, it takes hours to coax him out. I rarely ever see him wandering around his tank anymore and i don't know why. Any ideas?

Is the newt losing weight? Maybe he just likes the spot. ONe of mine, well a couple, hide under certain rocks,etc for days at a time.
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Jeremy Carroll
Center for Reptile and Amphibian Propagation and Conservation
http://www.onet.net/~eagle/Reptile/index.htm

He's not losing weight, looks like he's actually gaining weight. He stays in the water almost constantly. About the only time he comes out it when we clean the tank and set him on the land. We've also noticed that lately he'll start hyper swimming around the tank blindly, running into everything at full speed. any ideas?

Are you sure these aren't Paddle tail newts?

your newt is probably stressed and/or being bullied. you should seperate them and see if the behavior goes back to normal

The larger one i think is sa paddletailed but the small one with the problems is a Fire belly newt. We recently got them a new tank and because of the setup of the filter, we put more water in then usual. Their island is almost completly covered but for a tower with a hole in the middle. Norbert has ben fond of going inside the castle even when the water was low but now he'll climb up to the tower and sit up there, half in the water. He's also swimming around alot more now and not staying in hiding so much. Thor has been moving around alot less though. He'll climb in behind the suction tube for the filter and just sit there. He'll also attach himself to the rod for the bubble wall and lay there in the bubbles. Cute but still diffrent.

there's your problem. paddletail newts are HIGHLY aggressive, and much larger than your firebelly.

the paddletail is probably bullying the smaller one.

also, mixing species is a dangerous game and shouldnt be done.

these two should be split up immediately. they shouldnt be housed together.