My newts died suddenly...

I got my firebelly newts from a rather poor situation at a pet store (they were being kept with fiddler crabs and missing toes). I understood they would probably be stressed out and have some trouble, but I was not prepared for them to refuse ALL food (I literally tried everything) for a month and a half. They would actually actively avoid food.

Yesterday, I attempted once again to feed them. They were acting alright. Pretty active, although skinny (one was plumper than the other). They were strolling around, walking through and around the food but never even looking at it (tiny live earthworms - again, I tried everything under the sun). I walked away for about ten minutes and came back to find them both dead and all dried up. It is not hot in my house... and they were acting alright before.

I am so very sad. They were very cute little things and I'm very upset about the whole thing. The temperature in their terrarium was fine, water was okay, etc. I just don't understand what was wrong.

You have to understand that the importation process is very traumatic. They spend up to a month in crowded conditions and very likely no food at all, so many die even before arriving to the pet-shops. Then they have to survive the pet-shop since it´s very common for them to provide unsuitable care, not feed them, etc.
By the time they get to a home, they are stressed out of their minds. Their inmune system has gone down the drain. This leaves them very vulnerable to infections and other pathologies. Starvation is also quite common. If yours were missing toes it´s likely they already had a flesh eating infection (unless it was the crabs).
If the animal is not in too bad a condition, and is given excellent conditions so that it can recover from the stress, they usually do well, but if they were already in poor shape and you weren´t ready or had little experience, the chances were bad..:S
They probably died as a combination of starvation and an inefficient inmune system. From what you describe, there was little you could have done for them.

I´m very sorry you had to go through this, it´s very very unpleasant, but i at least hope this taught you something.

I have a lot of experience with other amphibians, but I had never had a firebelly before. I understood when I got them that they had a low chance of survival. I just didn't want to see the crabs hurt them more. Why would they completely ignore their food? I even held it up in front of them and tapped their mouths with it; that always worked for my other amphibians, and snakes, too.

I understand...it´s hard to resist buying them when you see they are being neglected. However it´s counterproductive, since the animals you take home and save from those conditions, will be replaced by others...and the cycle continues...and you obviously can´t take all of them home every time the shop makes an order. In the end i personally think it´s best not to buy them. If they can´t sell them, they´ll eventually stop ordering them (or perhaps i´m being naive...) and lots of lifes will be spared.

Don´t beat yourself up...you tried. Some animals reach a state where they simply starve to death. The stress levels are so high that even their basic responses, such as hunger, are impared.
Offering live foods gives better results but is no guarantee of success. Waxworms are excellent for enticing starving newts to eat, but again..not fullproof.

Also, you have to consider that wild newts are usually pretty shy, and reject being hand-fed at least until they become adapted to captivity. Trying too hard can in fact cause further stress. They are rather special xD

I hope you don´t let this nasty experience bring you down, though. If you are trully interested in caudates there is a wide variety of captive bred species available to you that will make the experience MUCH easier and riskless.

You're right... it's just hard for me to pass up a neglected animal. That store does buy from a local breeder, if that helps any. They aren't imported. The person who breeds them lives about ten miles away.

I tried those. I only resorted to attempting to hand-feed at the end of the first month (they starved themselves for a month and a half before dying). I will look into doing it again... perhaps I will get my newts from the breeder and not the store... I'm not sure. I don't know. I was looking for closure, really. Thank you.

Im sorry your newts died

I got my paddle-tails from a store here in scotland... its not the most highly talked about store in terms of the condition of the livestock. I'm grateful they are thriving well... I had bought fish from them before and they lasted about 24 hrs before dying. Other people I know have bought fish etc from there and they have died or infected their other fish etc.

I was in the other day having a look at what they had.. they had roughly 20 "paddle-tails" all cramped in a tiny tank... not even a foot long. They weren't paddle-tails... they were clearly some kind of warty newt. Looked a wee bit like crocodiles in the face. They had even labeled the CFBs as paddle tails too.

Most of them in the tank were so ill looking. So skinny you could see their ribs etc. It broke my heart and I wanted to take them away from the store but I didnt. I dont think I could have faced the heartbreak of when they eventually died.

Hugs to you. xxxxxxxx

Contact the ASPCA if they are not being kept correctly. If a pet shop isn't keeping its pets correctly, its unlikely that the majority of its customers will either because they will mimic similar care.

Asta, are you sure about that?
I´m just asking because it´s not the first time we hear something like that, and yet there is never any proof.
This species is hard to raise...the juveniles are minuscule, often fully terrestrial and they take between 1-3 years to reach adulthood. I find it very hard to believe that anyone breeding them at home would throw away all their effort by giving them to a pet-shop. If they were adults, you have no idea how much time and effort was involved in raising them to that point.
Pet-shops often lie. I know it sounds like i hate all pet-shops (and it´s partially true ) but the truth of the matter is that there are inmumerable cases of people who have been blatantly lied to just to make a sale.

If there really is a breeder i would ask to contact him/her and get the animals directly from there. However, i´d bet my pinky finger that it´s a lie as it always is. I´ve heard it so many times...

However it´s counterproductive, since the animals you take home and save from those conditions, will be replaced by others...and the cycle continues...and you obviously can´t take all of them home every time the shop makes an order. In the end i personally think it´s best not to buy them. If they can´t sell them, they´ll eventually stop ordering them (or perhaps i´m being naive...) and lots of lives will be spared.

Click to expand...

Azhael... you are not being naive. Sometimes it takes them a few orders of dead, unsold animals... but eventually they stop. It's HARD to ignore a mistreated animal(s) but it's really the best course of action in the long run. I'm guilty of the "save" myself.

I have a sort of friend in Oldsmar Florida USA that owns a business called "The Herp Hobby Shop". Sometimes it takes him too long (IMHO) to learn... but if it doesn't sell he eventually stops buying it.

Yeah, I'm sure they aren't imported... it's a family-run pet store; they're usually low on newts because they only buy from one breeder and they said she doesn't always have them.

I'm shocked they keep the newts like that since all their other animals are kept in great environments and are very healthy... I should have a word with them about the crabs. I'm thinking about going to the breeder myself and getting them directly from her, but I don't know if I want to do newts again. If I do, I'll probably do that.

Just out of stubborn curiosity, what color were their bellies?
Oh, and do give caudates a chance, they are a fascinating bunch

Azhael said:

Just out of stubborn curiosity, what color were their bellies?
Oh, and do give caudates a chance, they are a fascinating bunch

Click to expand...

Bright orange. I probably will; newts are my favorite animals.