Okay what am i doing wrong

okay i have several newt tanks most are 20 longs couple 10 gallons. the problem i'm having is that my simiaquatic newts are staying on the land sections of there tanks all the time . water temp is 69 to 71, ph is nuetral ...no fish in there tanks ...a few live plants and very little water circulation, just enuff to keep it from getting stagnet. the problem newts are 3 paramesotriton chinesis and 4 rough skinned newts.i even tried only feeding them in water but there not getting the food, i have to land feed em.both sets of newts are in 20 longs with about 4 to 5 inches of water. i'm thinking that there only aquatic during there breeding season..

Did you cycle the tank? What are the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?

Both of these species are in separate tanks?

Both of these species are highly aquatic. Give them a few days, and don't force them. Just leave them be in a quiet dark corner, and you'll come back to some aquatic, hungry animals.

the rough skinned newts may be California newts which are not as aquatic as rough skinned...

Ian, I doubt that. T. torosa are NOT prevalent in the pet trade.

yes i know Kaysie but i have six myself which rarely go near water so i thought there may be a chance.

You have T. torosa?? I'd love to see pics.

They aren't fully active just yet Kaysie but if you go onto the calender comp finalists ,second row down, third photo in you will find the cheekiest..
ian

Lucky bum. T.torosa are hard to come by in the US. Every one who was suppose to be T.torosa has ended up being T.grans.

How long have you had the newts, Jody? This is a common occurance with newts recently arriving from the abusive treatment of wholesalers/retailers. It's common enough to be in the FAQ. Continue to feed them on land, which probably means hand-feeding with a toothpick or tweezers. You might also want to gradually make the land areas less comfortable (wetter, less shelter). Be sure that the water quality is good (uneaten food needs to be removed promptly). Newly-setup tanks are dangerous in terms of possible ammonia content, see article on cycling.

thanks ... yes there in seperate tanks there in bare bottom tanks i do weekly water changes ..about 10 to 15 persent of the water. i use amquel before putting fresh water in. i think i have t.grans in the 1 tank ..i put them into a moist but much dryer tank and they started snooping every where, which was not how they were in the sim-aquatic tank set up, they just stayed under there cork bark most of the time. i'm going to get them a bigger tank as soon as i get with holdings back and i'll try again. thanks for the advice