Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My pair of cynops keep avoiding water, and i´ve noticed that their finger tips are becoming white.
That happened with the last one i had..and it died.

The male has also developed a brownish/redish spot in both arms next to the body...

is it a sign of illness??? what can i do to prevent it?? or to cure it now that it´s still in the begginings?????
help please...i don´t wanna lose these ones...

oh...they both shed last night, in case that means something...

They shed regularly, you just rarely notice it because they ingest the skin. Take away their access to land for a short time to see if they "get better". My newts rarely have access to land.

i know they shed regularly...what sounded suspicious to me was that they did at the same time.
You know..snakes shed when they have mites and things like that as a way of trying to get away of them, and shed a lot more when they have wounds etc. So i thought that maybe they shed because of an illnes. dunno....it may be nothing.

I fear letting them without any land areas in case they drown. They desperately refuse water. I fear they get tired of trying to scape and drown.

They won't drown.

actually they will, they can't keep swimming forever, they should have at least some land provided, even if it's just a piece of cork bark.

They won't drown.

so ur saying you could put a newt in a 10 gallon tank filled with water and no land and it wouldn't drown? ask anyone who knows anything about newts, it will eventually.

Well my 10 gallon, which is completely aquatic, with absolutely zero land area has 8 firebelly newts in it, and they have been thriving with no land access for years! I also know several others who employ similar methods, not too mention all the petstores around where I live do the same thing.

no land at all? i'm supposed to beleive that with the exact same care as fish fire bellied newts will thrive? yeah right. if you want to torture your newts it's awful, but don't try to make others do it as well.

here's some care sheets you should take a look at:

http://www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/amphibians/fire-belly-newt.php

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/salamanders/a/firebelliednewt_2.htm

http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/349.html

http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/349.html

http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/410.html

http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/434.html

http://www.pollywog.co.uk/cynopsorientalis-caresheet.html

here's just a few, to win a case you need evidence, now give me more links that say newts need no land. it's not like i looked hard for these, just googled them. you try, it's called researching BEFORE you buy a pet.

Im not saying they won't go on land, but do they absolutely need it in order to live? No. Will they die without land? No. In the wild sure they are both terrestrial and aquatic. But that does not mean that they will die if they don't have access to land, that is for sure. Oh and my newts are comfortable enough to be breeding machines in nothing but a full 10 gallon full of water. Now if they were being tortured then they surely would not breed!

did you read them? i guess not. just put a piece of cork bark in, it's not that hard.

I used to put a bunch of cork bark in. And repti-ramps. I did that for years and they never used them. They won't drown, they aren't stupid.

when did i ever say they were stupid?

If you check out the link I gave you below you would see that an initial failure to enter the water is not uncommon with newly imported Cynops orientalis.
However it may also be due to poor water quality. Was the tank cycled before you put the animals in it? If it wasn't you will need to monitor the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels.

With respect to the toes, this is damage to the extremities is not that uncommon with newly imported animals and is usually the result of the damage during the import process.

It can result in the loss of toes, feet or even legs and possibly the death of the animal.
The best thing you can do is keep them cool and feed them. If the damage appears to be progressing, you may want to consider a trip to the vets for effective antibiotic treatments.

Ed

that is a sign of illness, i have absolutly no idea what, you should get them checked out by a herp vet. did you clean the tank before you put these ones in/after the otehr one died? i would seperate them, they would have a better chance of improving that way. keep humidity way up if they aren't going in the water, and if you arn't using a glass top that would probally help. keep my posted!

I agree that you should NOT take away their access to land. You can add tetracycline to the water (comes in tablets in the fish department, just follow the directions). It will turn your water yellow, but will give an added boost of help if your newts are ill. Provide food daily, check the water quality (many fish stores will do a free water analysis for you) & keep stress to a minimum.
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Robins Critters
1.0 Corn snake Jack Skellington
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
0.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snake Jasmine
0.1 Western Hognose Addy the Adder
1.0 Tricolor Hognose Yoshi
1.3 Leopard Geckos Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.2 Crested Geckos Fox Mulder, Peek & Boo
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo
1.1 Eastern Box Turtles Squirtle II & Yurtle II
0.1 Pacman Frog Buffy the Cricket Slayer
0.0.1 Sulawesi Red Toad Mr. Toad
0.2 Tiger Salamanders Tiger & Sally
1.1.1 Firebelly Newts Wayne Newton, Olivia Newton John & Thandie Newton
1.1 Cats Gus & Mena

thank you Buffysmom, I just don't get how you can think they don't need access to water, but thanks a lot for confirming it.

You bet.
I think the same way you do- they're amphibians. I know research shows that the adults don't tend to live near a permanent body of water, but I'm betting they find plenty of water pockets in their underground tunnels, in addition to the fact that underground tunnels would be quite damp anyway. This isn't the environment they're getting in our homes, so a pool of water to run through or soak in is a good idea.
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Robins Critters
1.0 Corn snake Jack Skellington
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
0.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snake Jasmine
0.1 Western Hognose Addy the Adder
1.0 Tricolor Hognose Yoshi
1.3 Leopard Geckos Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.2 Crested Geckos Fox Mulder, Peek & Boo
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo
1.1 Eastern Box Turtles Squirtle II & Yurtle II
0.1 Pacman Frog Buffy the Cricket Slayer
0.0.1 Sulawesi Red Toad Mr. Toad
0.2 Tiger Salamanders Tiger & Sally
1.1.1 Firebelly Newts Wayne Newton, Olivia Newton John & Thandie Newton
1.1 Cats Gus & Mena

i agree, you arn't going to find a newt in the middle of the lake, it will be in a pond where there is floating plants, logs, and the side of the pond to rest on, they would die or exaustion if there was no resting spot.

They can rest on the bottom of the tank, UNDERNEATH the water! And in fact, that is what they do.

This is a rediculous debate. Newts are air breathers. Anything that breaths air can drown. Why would you want to keep your newt in a sub-optimal environment? They are best off in an enclosure that has areas where they can get out of the water, plants to hide in or climb out on, areas where they can feel safe & secure. Why would you NOT provide that?

If it's a hospital tank you want it to be minimalist, but this doesn't mean just a tank filled with water & no hiding or climb-out spots. That would just further stress an already-compromised animal.
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Robins Critters
1.0 Corn snake Jack Skellington
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
0.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snake Jasmine
0.1 Western Hognose Addy the Adder
1.0 Tricolor Hognose Yoshi
1.3 Leopard Geckos Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.2 Crested Geckos Fox Mulder, Peek & Boo
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo
1.1 Eastern Box Turtles Squirtle II & Yurtle II
0.1 Pacman Frog Buffy the Cricket Slayer
0.0.1 Sulawesi Red Toad Mr. Toad
0.2 Tiger Salamanders Tiger & Sally
1.1.1 Firebelly Newts Wayne Newton, Olivia Newton John & Thandie Newton
1.1 Cats Gus & Mena