How often do fire bellys surface for air? Tips on nursing "sick" animals.....

I have an orientalis and a japanese fire belly in a tank by themselves. The different species does not seem to be any trouble, I see them laying next to each other peacefully, with bodily contact.

I bought them from a supplier which had them in terrible conditions. They move around the tank a bit when first introduced and when I had to do a minor movement with the filter, they swam vigorously when I first got them. It has been 2 days. The land surface of the tank is a pot with some plants coming down for them to climb up. They stuck to the land the first day but spent the second day under water resting on plants fully submerged, or on the bottom of the tank.

They have not moved from the same spot in the last 3 hours-how long do they need to go to the surface for air? They are not dead, I used a turkey baster to squirt a little bit of water slowly and they changed position a little bit, but how often must they surface for air? Can they really be comftorable without having gotten fresh air in 3 hours?

Also, any generic tips on taking care of animals which have been in crappy conditions are very appreciated. I tried putting in some thawed bloodworms yesterday, waving them close to their face with teezers, they showed no interest so I took the bloodworms out. Tried the same today, same result. I plan to try the same every day, till they decide it is time to eat.

The tank conditions are what they'll like, so they can get plenty of rest in MUCH better conditions, but my worry is that they were kept in such crappy conditions they won't be persuaded to eat and will starve to death, or that they will be so tired that they won't be able to surface for air and drown.

Due to the crappy treatment they recieved, they may not have eaten in a week, has me very worried.

Hello,,
Don't worry about them sitting under water, they will get air when they need it.
Try to get some live bloodworms or small wriggling earth worms to feed them, whatever you feed them, you don't need to remove it straight away, leave it in. Just turkey baster the mess at the end of the week, or when you siphon for a water change.

How long do live bloodworms take to change? I don't want small mosquitos coming out of my tanks.

the mosquitos won't bite you anyway, don't know why but they just don't, and they take longer than 2 days to turn, leave them in at least 2 days, give your newts a chance!

Bloodworms are members of the Chironomidae family, and they are not haematophagous, so you needn´t worry too much if they scape. However, they can cause allergenic reactions to some people.

lims said:

the mosquitos won't bite you anyway, don't know why but they just don't

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That's because bloodworms are the larvae of non-bitting midges, not mosquitos. Also, newts often refuse food for a long period of time (up to a couple of weeks) after being given a new home, especially if they have been kept in bad conditions beforehand.

Give them live bloodworms, or blackworms, and leave them to it, if possible in a cool, dark and quiet room. The less disturbance at the moment, the better.

Godd luck with them!