Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone know why a newt might not enter into water? Umm owned them for 3-4 months. Last month they left the water and have yet to enter back into the water. Just a lil concern of mine. Thanks.

what type of newt exactly is it? if your water is too hot/cold/toxic that could deter them from entering the water. what king of set up is it? tank size, lighting, substrate, tankmates, everything. let me know and i will try to help more.

Brian

Thank you for your help, I have two fire bellied japenese newts, with two 3 inch feeder fish (Actully just tossed them into another tank) My tank is a 20 gallon tank w/ about 10 gallons of water. I am not sure on the tempeture yet. I will find out tommorrow for sure, but I believe it is most likly 60F to 65F. The water hasn't been changed in a while. 1 month, I am planning to change it as soon as I can, but I just tore a rotator cuff, and moving is a hastle. Also I have a flouresent lightbulb that works as a sun light for plants and fish, and gives off little to no heat. Thank you for your help.

68-70F is best temperature. you may want a filter. i would use a whisper micro/10i(same thing just different names) internal filter. i have used this filter with axolotls, a type of salamander, and it did not cause too much current or suction and still did a really good job. these guys, as with most amphibians are nocturnal and would therefore not be exposed to full spectrum lighting in the wild and is safe to assume would not be required for captivity. if you have live plants thats fine, the UV shouldnt hurt them at all, its just not required. you might want to make sure they have adequate hiding spaces in the water as well as on land, the more the better.small pots for potting plants either whole or broken in half would be good. so would plastic products made for hides in fish tanks. less attractive looking would be pvc pipe, narrow and cut down to about 4". clean the water and you should be fine.

Thanks Brian, ya I got some plants in there, alwell as a undergravel filter. I will try and get that other filter asap, if it'l help, and do you know of a way I could heat up the water a bit? I think I will go find something to put on land for shadding now. Thanks for the advice.

a 50 watt heater, 5 watts per gallon, would do the job, just make sure it is fully submersible so you can actually put it all the way into the water. however a heater really shouldnt be necessary for a coldwater species like this. i would get a digital thermometer to check the temperature for sure, rather than spend even more money on a heater you may not even need. its only a couple degrees off, that shouldnt actually be a big deal.

Ok, ill check the temp as soon as I can. My room is cold, I have a huge window always open. I beleive that might be the reason. Thanks for the help. I'll check temp before I get a heater.

I know that Japanese firebellies should be able to handle the warmer temps better than Chinese Firebellies, but I really would not get a heater. But of course, definitely let us know the temps. My Chinese firebellies prefer the water at around 62 degrees farenheit, and Japanese should be able to do the same. Are you making sure to use spring water or unchlorinated undistilled water? Seems to me with the windows open and all, it should be a perfectly fine temperature. I really would not get a heater.The species likes it cold.

Hey, I havn't been able to check the temps yet, but it was cold as hell in my room last night possibly lower then 60F. Ill buy a thermometer if I can today. I have alot to do today. I use water from the tap, with some dechloranating drops. The newts didnt move at all in the past 30 hours, possibly might be to cold. Ill get back on the temp later today hopefully. Thanks.

The temps you listed below are fine for the newts. I would consider 68-70 F as getting a little too warm for this species.
(see http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml for more info).

Typically in new setup enclosures the problem is because of the tank cycling and the levels of ammonia, nitrite and to a much lesser extent nitrate preventing the newt from entering the water. This species unlike a lot of plethodontids is active by day so your flourescent lights shouldn't be a problem.

Ed

all the sites i have looked at say they are nocturnal, but either way shelter should be offered to let them choose where they want to be.

I read they are diurnal, but then again, I notcie mine are active during both the day and night. I guess it may be individual.

some nocturnal animals over time will realize that they are not in danger during the day, like hamsters and rats. this could be the same thing.

Hey, ok so my temp for my newts water is 64 F with my window shut, with it open it was prob at least 10 F less. Will 4 F make a difference? Also my newts dont realy even much much, and when they do it is very slow, and not often. Possibly theyl move maby twice in a day maby three. Ill check out those webpages. thanks.

See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/faq/FAQhea.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/firebelly.shtml