Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have 2 chinese fire belly newts that were purchased April 20th from a kiosk at the mall. There new home is a 10 gallon glass aquarium with 2/3 water and 1/3 land. They have some silk plants in there and a couple rocks and a cave. They appear to be healthy; however, very scared. I was hoping that they would have ajusted and started to eat by now, but they have not. I have tried freeze-dried brine shrimp and bloodworms, frozed bloodworms, Tetra ReptoMin, Newt pellets, and some crap in a plastic bag that the mall gave us.

Yesterday and today, I have tried holding the fresh bloodworms right in front of the newts so they can see and smell them. One of the newts finally bit the worm, but it appeared to do it because the worm was annoying him as opposed to him being hungry.

Can someone give me any tips to get these little guys eating? Or how long they can go without eating before I have to worry about them not surviving.

Thank you!

Some fire bellies are a little on the picky side when it comes to their diet. You might try small crickets or chopped up earth worms. I would offer a little bit of food everyday until they begin to show interest. Providing they are healthy the instinct to eat will prevail.

A few other things to consider as a possible reason they are non socialable, and not eating. . .

Water temp? (between 50 & 60 degrees is good)

Filtered tank? (if filtered is it creating a lot of water turbulance?)

You may also want to spend a little time everyday at the tank so they can see you. . . talk to them, eventually they will become accustomed to the sound of your voice and in due time you might get to see just how social these little fire bellies can be!!

Good Luck and plz keep us posted!

Icy

I had the water at 66, but I am in the process of cooling it off a little bit. I also have an air filter, which is causing a little bit of turbulence but I didn't think it was much (nothing like my fish tank). I have unplugged the filter. I do not have real plants because I don't have a light for them. Any suggestions on what I can do to help keep the tank clean (other than manually cleaning it ALL THE TIME).

Thanks ALOT!

I use a Penn Plax Smallworld filter. . . they are inexpensive and can be purchased through Petco only. Here is a link to Petco.com to the type of filter I use in my 10 gallon (click "image" at the bottom of the tank pic to visit the link). They also sell the the replacement filtration units. . . in the "filter media" section of the fish site.

As for live plants the Java Fern is a wonderful tank plant and requires minimal light to grow. I have one in my tank and it is growing like crazy and my fire belly loves the roots!! As for light I use a small reading lamp that is next to the tank and it works great!

I have attached a picture of my setup to give you an idea. . . hope this helps!

Icy

Image

Personally, I use the Shark filter, a small workhorse that can be adjusted from low to high. I've purchased the Shark & its filters at Petsmart & other pet stores for about $25 (but it has lasted 8 years & is still going strong!). I've kept my newts for over 2 decades in room temp water, sometimes w/ filters, sometimes w/o, w/ live plants or plastic, etc... They are pretty hardy little newts. I wouldn't really worry about reducing your water temp, just let it be room temp. Good luck!
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1.3.0 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena