i need a bit of advice

[aimee]

friday night i found what i assume to be a smooth newt in my garage. he was covered in dust and not looking very well. gave him a temporary tub of water to sit in until i could find something better. after a weekend of research i went out today and got a tank, gravel, and some live bloodworms. i havent seen him eat yet, is he just taking his time or have i got the wrong things? also, ive set his tank up half water, half land with rocks to hide under. is this right, or should it all be water or land? he seems a happy enough, he swims about and has a look around. im just worried if he doesnt eat ill have to let him go as i dont want him to die, but he seems a lot healthier than he did when i found him. any advice would be greatly appreciated. also, yesterday morning i found him upside down and thought he was dead, until a few hours later when hemoved, placed him in the water and he floated, so i assumed he was in fact dead, he clearly wasnt. is this normal for newts to play dead? or does this one just like winding me up?

[Lasher]

Welcome. Sounds like he's having a little fun with his new pet homosapien :)

I've never kept Vulgaris, but what you've described sounds reasonable to me. Is your water quality good and do you have a filter? It may just be a bit stressed. Most species of newt love blood worm so keep offering those. You could also try offering some chopped earth worm.

Could you post a picture? I kno theres at least of a couple ofpeople on the forums that keep them, they may be able to conirm your ID and tell you if you have a healthy animal.

[aimee]

thats the best picture i have at the minute. i hope he would have eaten over night but it doesnt look like he has. i dont have a filter in his tank, do i need one?

[Jennewt]

It is NOT normal for newts to play dead. Was he/she upside down in the water or on land? Was this immediately after being put in the new tank, or some time later? The newt looks female to me, but this could be wrong, can't really tell for sure.

Live bloodworms should get him/her eating. Small earthworms pieces are another likely bet.

[aimee]

at first i thought it was a palmate coz his belly is just plain not spotty, but he doesnt have the tail filament or webbed feet. his bellys a pale yellowy brown, and hes about 2inches in total length. completely dark brown with a black stripe down his back if that helps. im really confused. he was upside down on land, but i think he'd been sleeping on on his side between the wall and his tub of water, so when i moved it he went upside down, but he wouldnt move. a few hours later when i went to move him tobury him he'd moved. so i put him in water and he floated.. so i thoguht he was infact dead afterall, but once id put him back on the floor he moved. this was the day before i put him in his new tank yesterday. hes moving around a lot now, although hes staying on the land half. the bloodworms i put in yesterday dont appear to have gone down at all and i think theyre now dead. im guessing he wont eat the dead ones. should i remove them and add some more live ones or frozen ones? how long does it take for them to become less stressed and start eating? also, how do i clean the tank out without him getting stressed again when i move him to do it? i never thought it'd be so complicated!

[Heather Jewett]

Yes, do remove any uneaten dead food - if left in the tank it will foul the water and make unhealthy conditions for your newt. At what temperature are you keeping the water? If you can get it about 18C or a little cooler that would be ideal. If the water is too warm your animal may not eat, so make sure temps aren't a contributing factor to its anorexia.

[klaire n jai]

hiya,im practicly your neighbour,living in brum!i got a couple of chinese firebellies from the pet shop and they took a few days to show interest in thier food even tho they were quite skinny.your guy dosnt look thin so hopefully he will get hungry soon.just put in a few and see if they go.my guys actually see me and come to the front of the tank for food now.you can get little filters dead cheap and if you put rocks around it the water flow isnt too strong for them,mine were alot more lively after i put in a filter.good luck.

[aimee]

well im keeping him in my room, not sure what the temperature of his water is, but my rooms freezin most the time anyways, so it should be nearly the same as outside. the bloodworms seem to wriggle into the gravel and disappear, so im having to keep a little tub at the bottom of the water to keep them in one place. is there anything else i could put in his tank instead of gravel so i dont have to worry about him not finding them? thanks for the advice about the filter ill get him one on friday and anything else i need.