Emperor Newts and playing dead

Hello,

I recently retrieved an emperor newt off the top of a small submersible pump (for a waterfall) and it was stiff with eyes retracted. I thought maybe the newt had drowned, but a few minutes later it began moving again, and about a half hour later it was walking around. Does anyone have any experience with emperor newts playing dead? It didn't seem like it had drowned, though when i first looked at it it looked very dead. I had a pang of sadness for my male newt, but he was perfectly fine later in the day.

The pump has been in the tank no problem for 3 years now, but I was trying to think of ways to cover it up. They really like hiding behind the waterfall, unfortunately. Does anyone have an ideas for blocking off access to back corners of cages from the newts? It needs to be easy to access, but not make more of a problem. I wanted to originally cover it with some rocks..but i think that would just make more pockets they could get stuck in.

Are you referring to Tylototriton shanjing?

If so, there have been quite a few anecdotal reports of them doing this. I've personally seen it twice now and it is really impressive - they appear to be completely unresponsive without even a corneal reflex but recover in a few hours.

Again, entirely anecdotal, but It seems to be brought on by stress and/or illness. It's worth reviewing your husbandry including environment, setup and nutrition.

How are you keeping these newts? Generally speaking, outwith the breeding season, if we are referring to T. shanjing, these newts are highly terrestrial. See here: Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tylototriton shanjing

If you were not referring to T. shanjing, then please accept my apologies. A review of your husbandry would still be a good idea however.

Regards,

Mark

Hello,

Thanks for the response. It is T. shanjing, in fact. I believe it must have been scared when i picked it up off the waterfall pump, not sure if the newt was stuck on the pump or my hand pulling him off was what stressed him out. I really thought he was dead though. I was just wondering if anyone else had seen it!

They all seem to do this. But in my experience shanjing and kweichowensis are the worse. I'm just about sure that one of the first shanjing I ever had faked death so well that I disposed of it! Since then I've seen them play dead several times, and every time a miraculous recovery occurs! Most recently with freshly shipped kweichowensis. It looked like it was near rigor mortis. Yet two weeks later it lives. I'd just say be patient and make sure your animals are not stressed in their environment. Shanjing can be fussy about humidity and overall dampness.Have a dry area they can access.

I'd second GE and say its worth checking the environment. While by no means impossible, I would think it's unlikely that it would happen simply due to fright from being handled.

Hi I have experienced this with my Tylototriton verrucosus,

I had that sinking feeling first time but now its quite common, my Tylototriton verrucosus is a chubby little critter and is fine but sometimes plays dead ! I now no longer panic and get that sinking feeling, Just seems to be something he does , the female doesn't do it at all !