D
deborah
Guest
We buy frozen bloodworms and (sometimes) crickets from our local Pet Smart store, as well as food for our cats. The clerks there all know we raise newts. A couple weeks back, one of the clerks informed me they were ordering some newts and wanted to know what advise I might have...
I asked what breed they were getting and she said Paddletails. I told her absolutely under no circumstances should they be housed with any other species, and the newts should even be isolated from each other. She was stunned to learn how aggressive they can be and didn't think her manager would listen to her.
Sure enough, today I stopped by the store and the clerk sadly told me that all their Paddletails had died. I asked how it happened and she told me they all attacked each other, tore off each others legs, etc. They also managed to escape from one of the tanks at one point... She said she had tried to tell her manager to keep them isolated and he refused to listen.
Why these stores don't do the minimum amount of research into newts before they buy them is beyond me. They seem to understand which fish are aggressive and they are isolated. IE, Betas... But they never seem to have even the foggiest ideas about how to raise newts.
The clerk even asked me, "should their water be kept warm?" I told her NO it should be kept 60 - 65 degrees (F) at the warmest and explained that most newts come from temperate, not tropical, climates and require a cooler habitat...
She really seemed interested in learning, but unfortunately no one cared what she had learned and the newts died as a result.
very sad...
I asked what breed they were getting and she said Paddletails. I told her absolutely under no circumstances should they be housed with any other species, and the newts should even be isolated from each other. She was stunned to learn how aggressive they can be and didn't think her manager would listen to her.
Sure enough, today I stopped by the store and the clerk sadly told me that all their Paddletails had died. I asked how it happened and she told me they all attacked each other, tore off each others legs, etc. They also managed to escape from one of the tanks at one point... She said she had tried to tell her manager to keep them isolated and he refused to listen.
Why these stores don't do the minimum amount of research into newts before they buy them is beyond me. They seem to understand which fish are aggressive and they are isolated. IE, Betas... But they never seem to have even the foggiest ideas about how to raise newts.
The clerk even asked me, "should their water be kept warm?" I told her NO it should be kept 60 - 65 degrees (F) at the warmest and explained that most newts come from temperate, not tropical, climates and require a cooler habitat...
She really seemed interested in learning, but unfortunately no one cared what she had learned and the newts died as a result.
very sad...