Illness/Sickness: losing a tail :0(

Hello - I am a new newt owner and after asking many questions at the pet store - I am finding that they gave me a lot of misinformation...

Apparently I have a cocodile newt, however when I look at pictures online - he doesn't look like that. He is green/brown on top and has red dots on the belly. I was told that he could live in the tank with my other fish and i told them exactly what i had - said it was okay - they also said that he could be in a 20 gallon aquarium with no room for a log at the top for him to sit on.

the second day we had him - he escaped out a tiny hole in the back??? I found him in the bathroom looking sickly and sort of half dried up. I rushed him back to the tank and he turned around - eyes clear and wasn't sluggish.

i noticed that his tail was flaking off and turning white and one of the fish kept picking at him. The fish doesn't bother him often when i am watching - but who knows the other 23 hours of the day??

now i don't know what to do - will he grow his tail back? or should i tell the pet store that a sale isn't just for the money and take it back? now that i am doing some research - my tank doesn't seem like it it should have a newt in it??

Can you set up a separate tank for the newt? Even a plastic sweaterbox would work on a temporary basis, and I think this is a situation that calls for immediate action. The tail may grow back, but it needs to be kept clean and away from the fish.

No, your tank isn't suited to a newt. It is probably too warm, and the possibility of escape is obviously a disaster waiting to happen. Keeping the newt cool will help with healing. I don't think it stands a chance if it stays in the fish tank.

Your newt sounds like a warty. See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/firebelly.shtml
We don't yet have a caresheet for warties, but read the other caresheets for firebellies.