Reptile & Amphibian Forums

H'ya all. Got a quick question regarding my chinese firebelly, EcKo. I recently did some changes to her 10 gallon habitat and since then I have noticed some major behavioral changes in her.

The change to her tank was not all that much of a change really. . . her land area used to be in the middle of the tank and now I have it to where one side of the tank is built up for her land area.

Since the change she is spending A LOT of time on land, even during daylight hours, and sometimes all day and night. When she finally makes back into the water it looks as though she has silver speckles all over her skin. . . really strange. However they do go away. Is this just from her staying on land so much? Is it okay that she spend so much time on land? Is it normal??

She has also lost her appetite. She used to go nuts over her baby earthworms and newt pellets. . . now she won't touch them. I am not too worried about her not eating because I know they can go up to a week without food, and in most cases the instinct to eat usually prevails.

She is also spending a lot of time in hiding, where as before she used to be really social.

So anyway this is NOT the EcKo I know and I am curious as to why all the behavioral changes. I am a little concerned about her so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Icy

Did you clean the tank when you moved the land area around??

Ed

Yes, but with an outside hose. I simply rinsed the tank out and then dried the inside with a clean paper towel. No chemicals of any kind were used what so ever. . . just plain water.

Icy

Your tank is probably recycling because of the cleaning and the levels of ammonia, and/or nitrite are probably too high. This is one of the common reasons that the newts leave the water and stop feeding.
You need to do water changes and bring the levels down. The newt may then return to the water.

Ed

That "plain water" is VERY different in composition than the "old" water that used to be in the tank. It's not unusual for a newt to stay out of the water after a total water change. It's better to do partial water changes and cleanings, without ever actually dismantling the tank.

The silver color on the skin is just air stuck to the skin when the newt goes in the water. Nothing to worry about, except that it's telling you that the newt's skin is more dry than usual. Try to keep the newt wet, perhaps even reducing the amount of land available.

Thank you for the advice.

In the past my weekly tank cleaning routine was. . . syphoning the gravel, removing a little less than 50% of the water, and then replacing it with clean aged treated water. The tank does have a filter and a few live plants as well. Everything seemed to be great until I got the wild hair to change things around a bit. I know now and will not do such a thing again!!

Because of the increasing heat and inability to keep her cool during the hottest part of the day (due to my job), I have moved EcKo into a five gallon tank and put her at my parents house for the summer months. It stays very kewl in their house and someone is home all day to make sure she doesn't have to deal with the increasing temps.

Again I appreciate everyone's advice, it was very helpful! I do adore my newt and I will be more careful in my attempts to keep her happy, healthy, and comfortable!

Icy