Red Spotted newts

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shehasmoxy

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I have another newt question...

One of my red spotted newts has been doing this weird curling behavior. His head is facing the gravel, then the rest of his body almost curves into a C shape. And he just floats there above the gravel, looking very very dead. I have done water testing and cleaned out the gravel in the tank..and everything looks ok. Ive thought maybe nutritional deficiency of some sort...but has anyone seen this with newts? I thought at first he had some buoyancy issues but now i am not so sure.

The newt is in a tank with three others, I water test weekly and change 1/3 of the water out. All newts are fed black worms currently.
 
If you could upload a picture then might be able to understand what your saying easier.
 
How big is your tank? What is the setup like? Land, water, partial each? How many sals are in the tank?

If they're consistantly eating blackworms, I wouldn't worry too much about nutrition (although that's what I immediately thought of as well). Blackworms are fairly well balanced as far as calcium and such.
 
My tank is a 40 gal aquarium, with three red spotted newts. It has a filter running and i do weekly water tests. The substrate is gravel, and i have some fake plants and several floating islands.

They eat the blackworms, and the gravel has a bunch living in it so there is always food available. There is also a UV light above the tank, though not sure if these guys need it or not.

The male seems to have buyoncy issues, he stopped the curling (he looked like the letter C) and is now spending a lot of time upside down. Ive included a picture. It takes him a while to right himself, and then when he swims he just flips upside down again and struggles to right himself.
 

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I would turn the UV light off. Salamanders don't need UV light, and it's actually been known to cause cellular damage.

The posture looks like it might be a neurological thing, especially since it's not floating.

I'd put him in a shallow container, or a land-based setup so he doesn't get stressed from being upside down.
 
I haven't heard about UV issues with salamanders and newts. The UV light on top is just a day light, and there are plenty of hiding places that they are not directly under it all t he time. I was told specifically by someone that they can have problems without UV lighting, then other people say newts don't need it..so there doesn't seem to be any clear consensus. The only thing i can come up with is something neurological. He doesn't seem to have any gas bubbles that would affect his buoyancy either.
 
Salamanders do not need UV light. They're not basking animals.
 
Hi Kaysie,
I am (respectfully) curious if you have a source for the lack of need of UV light for Newts. I have a colony of newts I maintain and I have been pushing for just using the natural light cycle outdoors as doing a light/dark cycle for an animal mostly in a murky pond seemed counter intuitive to me. Those that help me are pushing for a 12hr light/dark cycle for the tanks. Any source you can help me find would be beneficial to my case.
Thank you!!
 
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