Unexplained death

So I have had 8 Eastern newts for several weeks now. And they were doing really well. Until tonight when I started to feed them and one of the little ones was dead. Which was strange because yesterday it ate very well and seemed healty. Someone suggested to me that since they were wild, they might need vitamins to supplement their diet. Right now they have live mosquito larvae in their pond, and I feed them chopped nightcrawlers, and dried tubiflex worms which are supposed to be vitamin fortified. I really dont know what I need to ask. Can anyone tell me why an apparently healthy newt would die? I clean the cage once a week and take the skins they shed out of their pond.

Hi Laura,
Sometimes newts can be sick for a very long time but still appear healthy. Being wild, they could have caught some pathogens while in the wild. How much water do u change in each cleaning? Are the sheddings complete or just separate pieces? Perhaps if u shed some light on the appearance of the dead newt, a diagnosis may be more easily formulated.

Sam

I have had the same thing happen to eastern newts a couple of times. I don't have an explanation. I had one die like that the day after it ate live brine shrimp - I doubt that the brine shrimp killed it, but I've never used brine shrimp again.

The newt just looked normal...a lil swollen because it died in the water. they are not in an aquarium because they dont seem to like water more than an inch deep (i know their kind are supposed to be aquatic but they just dont seem to like it)...so they are in a cage with just a plastic dish. so i change it all every week because it gets kinda nasty after a week. i cant tell if the skins i take out are whole or not but they seem to be pretty large pieces. i find it a lil strange though because at first they did eat their skins after shedding.

Plastic dish? What do u line the bottom of the cage with? U should try to up the water land ratio. I'm not sure if the rest will agree with me but eastern newts (like most newts) are largely aquatic and if they dun go into the water, it may mean something is wrong.

I would think so too Sam. It just doesn't seem natural.

It depends on how old the newt is, eastern newts go through a terrestrial phase when young which can last between 2-4 years.
Hope this helps.

The main question is are they bright orange or olive green(of course with yellow spots)?

Orange means they are still in the eft(terrestrial stage) if they are green then they are adults(aquatic)

Oh ya, overlooked the terrestrial bit. It fits becuz efts are more prone to deaths than adults.

ok here is how their cage is set up. they have the plastic dish with the water which is a fairly large dish compared to them in area (so there is room for all). the water is about an inch deep. their cage is lined with rocks and there is also water in the rocks to make sure they dont dry out if they dont go in the dish. i found it strange too that they dont seem to like the water very much. but their dish is made so that they can go down under it and hide and i think maybe they do kind of sleep half in half out of the water under the dish. the one that died was colored like an adult but it was still very small (under 2 inches including its tail). the rest of them are larger. i guess i shouldn't say they dont like water since i do notice them as i said when they sleep. but if i put them in deep water they go crazy trying to get out. all i know is i found them swimming around in deep water but as soon as i caught them and put them in a cage they quit going into the water as much (i even had to keep a water bottle near to spray them so they wouldnt dry out). lately i have noticed that sometimes they do go in a bit more. btw mine are of the central subspecies and i did notice somewhere that some dont go through the orange or red eft stage, which may explain why both of my "babies" look like adults. anyway tonight when i fed them everyone seemed happy and hungry. thankfully the other baby ate a good bit because it had been refusing to go off the mosquito larvae and on to the chopped worms.

btw thanks for all the help. i have had lots of pets but the newts are a new one for me.

Btw, u do use dechlorinated water do u?

Samuel,
yes i put in the same stuff as i use in my fish tank. that is ok isnt it?

As long as the fluid says it removes chlorine and chloramine, it should be fine. Keep us posted..