Newt trying to escape

sammannell · Jan 22, 2017

Hey guys, recently my largest newt has been up on high points of the tank when I check on them in the morning.

He tries to climb up the glass but quickly falls back down.

All the other newts are happily swimming including the smallest who would only stay on the land up until 2 weeks ago so I can't imagine it's a water quality issue, plus I do weekly water changes and have a decent filter.

How come he's trying to escape all of a sudden?

JM29 · Jan 23, 2017

Hi !

An aquatic newt can try to escape from water for several stress-related reasons :
- water quality issues (but it's probably not the case, you say. But this newt might be more sensitive to bad water parameters than the others)
- It suffers domination from its tankmates
- It is not well fed. When you feed them, check if all the newts really eat. Sometimes an individual newt won't eat a food the other readily eat.

stanleyc · Jan 23, 2017

Does your filter create a strong current? As far as I understand it, Japanese fire belly newts also are pond dwelling types and might be stressed from too much current. That's the only thing I can think of other than what JM29.

sammannell · Jan 23, 2017

I have my filter propped against the wall so it doesn't create too much current but this weird newt loves to go in between the filter and wall and create a gap to play in the running water..

I hand feed them daily atm even though I know you don't have to feed them so often it's just easy enough to do when I have to feed the hatchlings anyway.

So maybe he is sensitive to the water or being dominated like you said. Would that happen although he's the biggest? I haven't seen him up anywhere high the last two days so maybe he's okay now.

Maybe he's just a weirdo hahaha :crazy:

Slowbro · Jan 24, 2017

Fire bellies only try to escape when under stress. Lower the tank temperature about 5 degrees with some evaporative cooling

you'll see a big change right away. also take out any toxic decorations. the merry go round can very easily be leaking acrylic chemicals and unnatural pigments into the water. same with the plastic plants. fire bellies do really well when they're underneath a layer of crazy floating plants like Elodea/Anacharis

I've successfully raised 3 breading generations of fire bellies without any escapes because i keep the tank natural and the water cold.

stanleyc · Jan 24, 2017

Yeah if the water quality is fine, they're eating well and seem healthy otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I have 1 Chinese FBN that always liked to be on land more than in the water and she's been fine for about 8 years.

sammannell · Jan 29, 2017

All the decorations are made to be in aquariums from the pet shop would they really still be toxic?
Also the whole left side of my tank is Elodea and Java Moss that's where they spend most of their time. I also have a screen top and fan and put in frozen bottles etc like in that article.

Whatever the problem was I'm guessing is gone because this trying to escape only lasted 2 days

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