i still cant get my baby fire belly newt to eat :(

Hi there. I am having big problems with a baby fire belly newt.

I rescued seven babys from a pet centre that didnt have a clue what they were doing. I've now had them about a week.

Six seem okay but the tinyest one won't eat. I've had him in his own tank with enough water to submerge himself, and he has his own food with some land. I've tried feeding him with treezers and by putting it in front of him in water and on land. I've cut up the bloodworm, and also earthworms, and he won't even attempt it.

When I got him, I got it for free cause he was a dried up twig looking thing and seemed nearly dead.

I've recently put him in the new tank with the others, as I think it's the best place for him now. I've really run out of ideas on what to do with him. Last night I checked him after leaving him for two days to settle in the new tank. He was curled up hiding in the den and I sprayed him to keep him cool/moist and he didn't move, I touched him to check for life and nothing, I then had to get him out as I thought he was dead and after 40 seconds or so of being on my hand he moved a bit. I then put him back with some chopped up bloodworm and checked him today but he's not moved an inch. I've got him out to take some pictures and to wet him again and also offered him some more food, but still no luck so put him back.

Please, has anyone got any ideas? I really don't want to lose him here are some pics.....





Also, there are no cuts, skin markings or bumps on him. Does anyone know if this is a Chinese or Japanese fire belly please? The centre didn't believe there were two different ones. Thanks in advance

Here is picture of some others in my tank...

I'm not the most experienced here by any means, but I can tell you that when I got my pair of FBNs, they spent all of their time on land, huddled under a little hut. They are totally aquatic now and I virtually never see them on land anymore. During their terrestrial phase, I would spritz them through the day to be sure they didn't dry out. They did not eat, esp. the smaller one, for weeks. My smaller one turned out to be a male and is still much smaller than the female. It's very difficult to tell if yours is in an adjustment phase or is failing to thrive/sick. If you have an exotic vet, it would be wise to have the newt looked at in case something is wrong. Good for you for saving the poor things and good luck!

Dana

If you have live blackworms available, I would try putting him in a cup or jar with the worms, very saturated like being in worm soup, and seeing if being surrounded by food for a bit will tempt him. Leave him in for a few minutes, 5 or ten tops, and try again later, daily or twice a day, and maybe that'll get him to eat. But also though a week seems long, I've had newts not eat for longer, then start, and survive. Good luck!

If you are really worried, you might be able to get from a pet supply store something called "Jump Start: Caloric Supplement & Appetite Stimulant, Concentrated" by Zilla. It is "Ideal for animals that are 'Off-Food', anorexic or calorie deficient. Provides an energy boost."

They sell it for reptiles, but the pet store person said it could be given to a newt so I did. My newt started doing better for a while. Unfortunately, she was one that was wild caught, and just did not adjust or thrive. (Not one that I have previously written about on here.)

If you really want to try it, smear some on the mouth area. There is a video on the website on how to give it to a larger animal with a tube in the mouth, but you probably will not find one small enough (not even a dropper) and will risk harming the newt if you try to pry it's mouth open by possibly hurting it's jaw, stressing it further, or just handling it too much too often for it's delicate skin.

It is supposed to give them energy which it did short term (if I smeared a little on and then lightly misted with water...but it did stress the poor thing too I think), and add fat to the tail which I did not really notice since she did not take it 3 times a day very happily.

Good luck with whatever you do! I hope your little guy just decides to eat on his own.

My littlest looked like yours when he came home and he was one who would not eat while he was adjusting for a while, but he is a VERY healthy and vigorous eater now. He attacks whatever he is eating with great gusto, and eats as much as the largest adult female does! Do not give up hope and keep offering it. Try thawing frozen blood worms and offering them on a toothpick. Play with the worm on the end of his nose (tease a little) and see if it takes very long before he just can't stand it and then see if he goes for it. Then move onto other foods. More variety the better!

I really like your set-up. I hope you have a VERY secure lid...or you might find some missing. They are very good at climbing the glass! Surprisingly good escape artists.

To really tell the difference: Ok, look at the end of their tails. Do they look pointy or rounded?

Rounded: C. Orientalis (Chinese)
Pointy: C. Pyrroghaster (Japanese)

There is a "which firebelly is it" sheet around here somewhere...

great help you guys, thanks very much

No problem! Hope that it helps. Keep us updated if you would please. Now you got us curious!

hi again guys im just going to give you an update on my fire belly newts, ask a few questions, and i have some new photo's too!

I still havn't seen my little one eat and he/she still hasn't gone in to the water and is still very small compaired to the others. He is still alive though! and i have been putting food for him rite under hes feet, maybe he is eating that.... i just dont know
Any way, i have added some guppys to my tank and im thinking about getting some neons too. i have 3 big pregnant female guppys, two baby females and one male (i did have two males). i have a heater on 20c to keep the fish alive as they are tropical but they can live at the minimum temprature of 19c 'aparently'.
I have lost one male guppy due to alot of stress with moving and a poorly filter so i now have a new filter .

I'v also decided to remove my gravel and replace it with very fine sand which doesn't seem to move much atall when my newts eat off of it, which is great!
four/five out of seven newts normaly stay in the water now and are constantly moving around, i have added some hiding places for them by using the rocks i had already

I would like to have some more plants, but this time i want real plants for my newts to climb on and hopefully lay eggs on at some point. How easy are plants to take care of in an aquarium please? i'v never had real plants before.

If i do end up with some newt eggs, do i need to seperate them in to a smaller tank? i do have one spare. Do they stay in water once hatched or need some land like older newts? sorry but i am totaly clueless on the breeding part of newts

I had fire belly newts years ago, i'v heard they go in to hibernation? but mine never done that, i had two adults for about two-three years. do they hibernate? when and how do they do it please?

i have taken some close up photo's to see if any one can tell me if they are chinese or jamanese newts please?

I think there are males but i cant work out if i have any females please help

here we go.....















thats the best pictures i have been able to get so far

thanks very much guys ~xXx~

do i need to seperate them in to a smaller tank?
Yes, I would. Is one gravid already?

Mine had babies 6 weeks ago and I now have 30 larva. I don't know if anything happened to some of them as we were first alerted to the larva when my son said, "Look mom, there's a tadpole!" in w/ the adults. I separated him immediately. I now have three larva tanks going as I don't want eggs hatched a month apart together. So, I have one tank of the four largest, about 11 in the middle, and I had a container for eggs which I believe have all recently hatched, so they're very young.

As I said before, my pair spent months on land and didn't eat at all for several weeks when I first brought them home. I now fear/feel they were WC and were probably quite distressed.

Your little one is small, but he may be very young. Since we've had ours for a year and they have reproduced, I assume they are several years old.

Good luck,
Dana

mine are all the same age aparently, i went to the aquarium and took all they had (seven of them) because they didn't have a clue.
you say 'gravid' sorry but what do you actually mean by that please?
also what does WC mean?
when i do get eggs, do i wait till they actually hatch and quick move them or is it ok to take the whole plant to another tank?
many thanks :happy:

I also have this picture, they keep cuddling up like this but im worried the big one on the left is different to the others, hes different colour, alot bigger, has lots of spots and look rougher then the others too, but he was in the same tank at the aquarium with the others.

some one has told me they mite be trying to mate when they are all bunched up like this too, is that true please?



many thanks once again :happy:

Gravid basically means pregnant. The one did look larger in the bottom half, I thought - need to recheck the pics. Gravid females have a pear-shaped chubbiness not to be confused w/ ill newts who have "bloat" where the chunkiness extends towards the head and the neck is also thicker.

WC means "wild caught." I doubt the pet store would have a captive breeding program in place, so it's really impossible for them to attempt to guess age, let alone that these are all the same ages.

Don't be alarmed by the color variations. Some newts will change color and it's perfectly normal.

I'm not sure of the mating ritual but I'm the proud grandma to about 30 bouncing larva...it wasn't my intention - believe me! If your one is gravid, she'll lay eggs (see the link for great info) on floating leaves/plants, real or fake. Some people use 'egg strips' which are plastic strips. The eggs look like small balls of gel with a mustard seed inside that gets darker and larger as the egg matures. Right before they hatch, you can see the tiny newtpole inside, fully formed. It's quite interesting.

Have some live Daphnia (water fleas) on hand if you see eggs. The little larva need this tiny food. I'm progressing my older babies (6 wks. old) up to white worms and still have a buffet of Daphnia as well as some frozen microfoods, including baby brine shrimp.

Good luck.
Dana

Some newts that look gravid might just be a little plump, which isn't a bad thing.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml

Just wanted to share this link with you in case you haven't seen it. It has pictures of the eggs and is a caresheet for these animals.

All the best,
Dana

great help thanks very much