Question: Doing everything wrong - but afraid to disturb my newt's "equilibrium"

Hi all, I'm new to the Caudata forums and have spent a lot of time in the last couple weeks learning from others' posts. I have a Japanese firebelly newt (c. pyrrhogaster) named Spike who is nearly 20 years old - he was given to me as a gift when I was in the fourth grade. I found this forum when researching ways to cool my little guy's tank (we just moved to a new house with lots of windows, and I'm concerned that his water is warmer than it used to be), and in the process of reading other posts, it quickly became apparent that for the past 2 decades I have been doing nearly everything wrong when it comes to newt care. I completely empty, scrub, and refill Spike's tank 5-6 times a year (no tank cycling), he has no filter, his "plants" are plastic, his tank temperature has never been in the recommended range, and his diet consists almost entirely of Tetramin with occasional whole earthworms. He has somehow survived and thrived. I want to do right by him, but because what we've been doing has been working for 20 years, I'm afraid to make major changes for fear of upsetting his "equilibrium." However, I'm well aware that correlation doesn't equal causation, and he may be doing well in spite of his current conditions, not because of them. If you all were in my shoes, what would you do?

This is a very interesting thing. It is surprising that he has done so well.

If I was in your shoes, I would change the tank, and make it more of the "correct" tank. My guess is that since he is twenty years old, he may not have too much longer ( a few years maybe ). So I think that it would be nice for him if he had a densely planted tank.
It would be like luxury for him!

Oh, and welcome to the forum :happy: -Seth

I think you could abandon the drastic cleaning and do smaller water changes instead, perhaps 20% every other week. You could also add some live plants to the tank. I can't imagine that this would lead to any shock for the newt. Plants can be demanding so check which species might do well according to what conditions you have. Something like Java fern doesn't need any substrate, also look at Hornwort which is floating, and moss balls. Generally anything described as "easy", many plants need lots of light and CO2 which takes a lot of dedication.
Regarding the newt's diet, you could try offering the earthworms more often. The pellets are probably quite good anyway, I don't think you need to feel so bad about them

I agree with evut, live plants would really improve your newt's quality of life. My C. pyrrho's spend nearly all their time poking about in the plants, In fact it's rare to see the females or juveniles out in the open unless its feeding time! As far as diet goes, Reptomin pellets are very good nutritionally, even better when supplemented with earthworms!

Thank you all, this makes me feel more confident. I think I will follow your suggestions and try switching him to partial water changes and live plants. Abandoning my old tank cleaning strategy will be new territory for me and I have some fears about algae taking over, but I'll re-read the Caudata articles about algae and maintaining healthy tanks and try to redirect my neat freak energies elsewhere.

Next time around I will start with a better setup, but I'm hoping Spike and I still have at least a few years left together. He's lived with me in four different states in the US and kept me company through school, college, grad school, marriage, and several jobs. I don't like thinking about a future without him!

Would you be able to add some photo's of Spike? I would love to see him

The algae shouldn't be a problem once the tank cycles and the plants get established. Japanese fire bellies can be very long lived when healthy, there's a good chance he'll be around for a while yet.
I'd like to see a picture of him as well!

Here he is! It's not a very clear pic, though... he's a very wiggly little guy. (Or gal... I have suspected for a while that "he" might actually be female. Whatever Spike's sex is, he doesn't seem to mind what pronouns I use.) I'll try to get some better pictures later.

If you change around the setup I would recommend changing the substrate to rinsed playsand(or aquarium sand if you wanna but its pricier) or to bare bottom to avoid debris getting trapped underneath the substrate

He (defiantly a male) looks lovely and healthy to me, I'm sure he'll be keeping you company for a few years yet! He's most likely a member of the sasayama race of C. pyrrhogaster by the look of his belly pattern.

Do you think there's any chance he would accidentally ingest sand if I switched the substrate? He has never attempted to eat his gravel, but I'm not sure what he would think of sand.

Chinadog, how can you tell that he's a male? Is it the length of his toes?

I would love to eventually get another c. pyrrho or two once I feel better about Spike's setup, but they are awfully hard to find.

He is so cute! I don't know much about these guys, I've always wanted one but I have no more tank space! Haha. Anyways I am just tickled that you found us , and that you're following advice and wanting to make a better place for your little guy, instead of what's convenient for you!!
Yay spike!

greensphinx27 said:

Do you think there's any chance he would accidentally ingest sand if I switched the substrate? He has never attempted to eat his gravel, but I'm not sure what he would think of sand.

Chinadog, how can you tell that he's a male? Is it the length of his toes?

I would love to eventually get another c. pyrrho or two once I feel better about Spike's setup, but they are awfully hard to find.

Click to expand...

Toe length is a pointer with this species, but I have seen males with very short toes The dead give away are the spots on his tail, they are more prominent in the breeding season, but you can usually see them all year round.

The sasayama race are probably the most common C. pyrrho's in captivity, so it is possible to find them. Once the new plants have settled it would be worth posting a wanted add on here, captive bred ones are available from time to time.

greensphinx27 said:

Do you think there's any chance he would accidentally ingest sand if I switched the substrate? He has never attempted to eat his gravel, but I'm not sure what he would think of sand.

Chinadog, how can you tell that he's a male? Is it the length of his toes?

I would love to eventually get another c. pyrrho or two once I feel better about Spike's setup, but they are awfully hard to find.

Click to expand...

If anything gravel would be more dangerous than sand. It could accidentally ingest sand, but it shouldn't be a problem since its so small. It won't just decide to eat sand because its there, it should just be if theres food there. If gravel would somehow get ingested, it will cause the animal to become impacted and possibly eventually leading to death, and the uneaten food and waste it creates gets trapped under gravel making cleaning harder.
Aaron

Just wanted to throw an update on this old thread about my old newt! My C. pyrrho Spike is still doing fine - I've had him for about 25 years now. These days he has a filter and some live plants (moss balls - that was the only thing I seemed to be able to keep alive). We removed the gravel from his tank, so now he rocks a bare floor. He gets regular partial water changes with a turkey baster every couple weeks. He still mostly eats Reptomin and seems pretty happy. I have a toddler now who likes to pull up his stepstool and watch Spike swim in his tank. The toddler also likes to imitate Spike when he's taking his bath: he'll splash around on his tummy shouting, "I'm a big newt!"

Thank you for updating!!