Really don't know what to do. Won't eat, at all.

For about a month now, Larry (common newt, I think he is) hasnt appeared to be eating. He may have eaten once, or he simply walked through his food, can't tell. He is in a 20deg 15 gallon tank, half water, half stones with a little hiding area. He only ever wants to hide, never eats, tried all types of worms, mosquito larvae and brine shrimp, just doesnt want any of it. He seems to be moving really slowly now, and I 'think' he has turned a little lighter.

Really don't want little Larry to hit the hay, any ideas?

Thanks,
Monstrous

Maybe you could give us a picture to see whats wrong?






chris:wacko:


p.s are you sure he dosn't eat while youre not around?

What are your water parameters?

The cup is only temprary while I was cleaning his hiding thing.

He seems to have changed from the clour he seems in his tank, to the colour he is on the black glass thing I put him on. This is not the camera's flash doing this.

Any help greatfully appreciated by myself and more so by Larry!

None of his food dissapears, so I know he isn't eating.







Thanks, Monstrous

Hi, if it´s an adult, then it´s a her.
The enclosure is not apropriate, it´s clearly in terrestrial phase so you should provide a woodland type of set-up, or if you want to keep things easy you can just use kitchen paper.
The thing is, forcing it too stay aquatic or very wet is the most probable reason why she is not eating. Take her to a terrestrial set-up, with some hides and be patient....offer the right foods and she will recover, though she looks quite good.

azhael said:

Hi, if it´s an adult, then it´s a her.
The enclosure is not apropriate, it´s clearly in terrestrial phase so you should provide a woodland type of set-up, or if you want to keep things easy you can just use kitchen paper.
The thing is, forcing it too stay aquatic or very wet is the most probable reason why she is not eating. Take her to a terrestrial set-up, with some hides and be patient....offer the right foods and she will recover, though she looks quite good.

Click to expand...

How would wood-chip do? Like, bark?
I'll reduce the size of her water segment then and add a top layer of wood chip, with a few hiding areas and see if it helps.

Actually i wouldn´t say that´s a good idea. Caudate´s skin is very sensible and bark could be a problem because it has edges, etc. You should use soil, free of chemicals, or even just moss.... I would reconvert the cage, and make it fully terrestrial(with a little shallow water dish just in case).

I would be very cautious in moving it to a terrestrial setup. When a newt's skin is water-adapted, a sudden move to a soil-based setup can lead to dehydration. Is the newt currently spending most of its time in water or on land? If you change this newt over to a terrestrial setup, first move it to very wet substrate, then wait until its skin begins to look dry and granular, then the terrarium setup.

Can you explain more specifically the kinds of foods you have tried? Were the foods live or frozen or dried? What kind of worms, and were they offered whole or in pieces? Have you tried offerering the food on a toothpick/tweezers? Were you offering the food in the water or on land? Did the food fall into the pebbles?

Most of its time is on land, it only ever ventures into the water for a short while maybe, once every day or two.

Foods I have tried - Frozen - bloodworms, silk worms, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae
live - bloodworms (with tweezers, tried it on he tank pebbles aswell (on a tiny bit of plexiglass also))

Tried all of the above full size and chopped up.

Tried food in water and on land.

The setup shown provides very little cover. Newts, particularly shy ones, need to feel secure. They will seek out any sheltered spot to hide. I would suggest combining the newt's need for shelter with its need for food. Create a covered area with food underneath. Food can be placed in a small feeding dish (or a lid or cap from a jug may do the trick), and cover it with some kind of shelter. I would recommend the live bloodworms or pieces of still-wiggling earthworm as something that may tempt it to eat.

Pebbles may not be the best substrate. The food is likely to fall between the rocks and be inaccessible. If the newt's skin looks fairly dry/granular, then I think moving it to a terrarium type setup with a shallow water dish would probably be better. Stock the terrarium with small live food, such as fruit flies and woodlice.