Caudata.org: Newts and Salamanders Portal

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Did you know that registered users see fewer ads? Register today!

Illness/Sickness: Paddle tail newt out of water

Newtstonew

New member
Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone, I have recently rescued a paddle tail newt. I say rescued because the poor thing was in a pet store with barely an inch of dirty water that was full of uneaten rotting bugs. Yuk. The associates even told me that he hasnt moved much in the month they had him. I wonder why. Anyways, this was a kind of unexpected purchase so I had put him into a 5 gallon cycled tank I have. It has a filter on it as I've heard they like moving water and is fully stocked with live plants. Don't worry I'm going to move him into a 10 gallon when I have a chance. Now to the main problem, he has been desperately trying to get out of the water, I made a little platform for him to come out on so he could rest . I have read that that's a bad sign with paddle tails since they are fully aquatic. I need your help in figuring out what the problem is. The water temperature is at 70 and I know that's a little high for them. I've been trying to cool it down with water bottles but doesn't really help. I'm going to purchase a fan to see if that will cool it down. I may even move the tank outside since its in the 50s now. I also think he might be a little under weight but I'm not sure since this is my first newt. As far as I can see, there are not outside physical ailments but I'll have to take a closer look again. Any suggestions or advise on how to get him feeling better?Could this be just stress related due to poor care in the pet store ? Also are wax worms good for weight gain ? I'll try to post pictures when I get home from work. Thanks for your help!
 

Chinadog

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
2,685
Reaction score
88
Location
Chesterfield, England
Hi, welcome to the site. :)
I would say you're right about the stress and foul conditions at the store. Paddletails are often thought of as purely aquatic species like Axolotls, but both juveniles and adults have been found living terrestrially in the wild, so its possible your newt is trying to abandon the water and seek out somewhere more suitable.
If there's nothing obviously wrong with him, I would just provide him with a clean cold aquarium with a few hides and maybe a slight current if you have a powerhead or internal filter that you could use. As well as waxworms, you can offer him chopped nightcrawlers or blackworms from time to time and see how things go. Compared to other petstore newts, Paddletails seem almost bulletproof so hopefully he'll shrug off his ordeal and begin to settle down soon.

Eta; make sure he has a tight fitting lid over his tank, Paddletails are fantastic escape artists.
 

Newtstonew

New member
Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Update: I took out the internal filter and replaced it with an airstone. I've been using ice water bottles and have a fan on the tank. The temperature is now at 65 which is much better. I tried offering him wax worms and earth worms but he didn't take them. Haha he looked at them and wiggled his eyeballs. Idk if the wiggle is normal part of hunting but it was funny. He is still out water but he is at least moving about the platform. I'm really hoping he'll feel better soon.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    105.5 KB · Views: 375

Newtstonew

New member
Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Ok so he just ate a wax worm, took a poo, and decided to go in the water! Things are definitely looking up. Now I do have to switch the substrate to sand before he eats any ?
 

slowfoot

New member
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
665
Reaction score
25
Location
Denver, CO
That's good news! He's also not a paddletail - he's some kind of Paramesotriton, probably chinensis.
 

Newtstonew

New member
Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Oh he is? Eh whatever he's cute anyways. I had a slight suspicion he wasn't but I thought the tail color was a paddle tail. I'm glad that you gave me a definitive answer though :)
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    122.1 KB · Views: 211
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Top