Sick or just a little weird?

I've had two fire belly newts for a couple months now. They seem to be almost full grown...they've both shed (moulted?) in the past month. They used to spend all of their time on their floating log, but after adding floating plants, one of them dove in and embraced the water. His (her?) skin is adapting to the water, he's becoming a good swimmer and spends almost all his time in the water. The other newt is not as fond of the water. He'll dip his tail in or get really close to it, but not actually go in. His skin has the normal little bumps on it, is not flakey, no open wounds, he's eating normally, moves around on his log and everything. The two interact when the other newt comes up to say hello. The one just won't go in. I've thought about taking the log out completely so there's no dry land, but the other one loves to hang out inside the log under water, and spends a lot of time there. I'd feel bad taking away his favorite hide out. So I guess the only things I'm concerned about are him not going in the water, and he seems a little sad. Maybe because his buddy left him for the water, or maybe he't not actually sad. What do you think? Is there something wrong?

I would remove the log for now, but make sure there are plenty of areas where the newt can rest without actually getting dry. Floating plants are ideal, but rocks or wood just below the surface are good as well. The terrestrial newt might climb the sides to begin with, but after a few days it should settle down and behave like the other one.

Here is a thread that might help.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...ypselotriton/80289-no-newts-water-months.html

Hmm that post is interesting. I'll definitely try lowering the water temperature! It usually hovers between 62 and 70, depending on how recently they've gotten a frozen water bottle!