Unknown Newts - Eastern Newts...

[Sharon]

The original two are doing well. I clean up quite a lot of poop from two such small things!

But there has been a third addition. Their tank mate. Quite a bit larger than the first two. He seems to be more aggressive. Is this normal? Now that he has PLENTY of food will the aggression ease off?

Update on the previous newts. The smallest and lightest has darkened up to match the one in the photo. They all have a light shade of orange on their bellies and black flecks. On their backs are the twin rows of orange spots running along their spine.

LOL FYI - my kids call them "Itsy" the smallest, "Bitsy" the medium and "Meeny" for the mean one.

Thanks for you help and info in the previous thread!

Sharon

[Jennewt]

Easterns are not generally aggressive. Are you 100% sure that "Meeny" is the same species? I wouldn't expect much aggression beyond the occasional "oops, that's somebody's leg" at feeding time.

I'm a little surprised that you mention poop. Eastern newts are not big poopers, in my experience. Could it be leftover food or plant debris?

[Sharon]

Meeny is identical to the other two. The petshop didn't listen to me when I told them there was a newt who hid inside the fake rock structure trying to escape the overly hot water.

I went back the 9th of May - however many days later that is after my original post - and saw the newt tank, shoved back on a lower shelf, lid askew. I thought, no way, they listened... but I wonder.... so I picked up the rock formation and thanks the water being cooler, the newt was out, but laying still in the water and I thought, oh gross! But he was alive. So I grabbed a plastic baggy, got some fish water and brought him home after informing the employees he was dead.

I have no idea how long they thought that tank was empty and how long he had been without food.

Things seem to have settled down in their tank. So I think he was just starving and darting for anything that moved.

LOL they are in the same tank you saw in the pictures. They'll get something bigger soon. But its a bare bottom tank with BIG rocks so I notice every little grain. Since all these black nuggets are roughly the same size I seriously doubt they are dead brine shrimp or left over bits of bloodworms. There is just a "denseness" to the nuggest that you don't see with the blood worms which are sort of transparent.

The three of them are eating 3/4 of a bloodworm cube every other day. I hope to score some live ones at a petshop up in Tucson. Then I can seed my tropical tanks with them and let them go crazy and harvest what I need from there!