General Problems Worries With Newts

Hi all,

I have two Chinese Fire Belly Newts, and they are aboput adult size. I bought them about 2 1/2 weeks ago, from a pet store that has a good reputation for their animals and such. But I have a few problems with my newts:

They won't eat properly. I feed them blood worms, but they don't seem to eat them whilst I'm around, does that mean they don't like me?

They also are very scared of me. I've seen video's on the internet of people holding and hand feeding their little fire bellied newts and they aren't scared of the human. Is there something that I'm doing wrong?

Do newts ever bond with humans, and start to enjoy their company, because I'm scared that they will never like me, or would liked to be held at any point.

And just for you all to know, the only time I hold them is when I have to hold them, such as cleaning theirt tank, or rearanging things in the tank.


Thanks for reading, any form of help would be an absoulute pleasure!

Hi,
Well, i´m sorry to disappoint you but newts really don´t create emotional bonds. However, they can be trained to associate humans with food, the result being that every time you move in front of them, they´ll assume it´s feeding time. This however takes time, you can´t simply expect it to happen in a couple of weeks.
Handling and holding caudates is not a good idea. These aren´t mammals that respond to close contact, these are creatures that will be stressed when handled as they´ll perceive it as an attack. Handling has certain dangers. For example the products that a given person might use in his/her hands, like lotions, soaps, etc, can be absorved by the newt because they have permeable skins, resulting in toxicity or dead. Human skin oils and secretions can also cause trouble. Further than that, their skins are also unprotected and easily damaged, so the roughness of human skin, specially in a rough handling can cause skin damage. Last but not least, our bodies create a lot of heat, heat that is way beyond what caudates can tolerate, so prolonged manipulation exposes the animal to temperatures that are literally deadly for it.

Bottom line is, don´t manipulate your newts. While you might feel the desire to bond and have close contact with your pets, it will compromise their health. I´m not sure what kind of cleaning startegy you are following but if removing the newts from the tank is necessary, then you should do it without touching them, or if you must, with wet,clean hands (not in the sense of sterile, but in the sense of not covered in any chemical) and for as short a time as possible.

As for feeding, bloodworms are ok every now and then, but the staple diet should be earthworms.
The fact that they don´t eat has nothing to do with them not liking you, hehe. They aren´t eating, most probably because they are stressed. You just bought them a couple of weeks ago, but before you did they went through hell. No matter what the reputation of the shop is, it´s extremely likely that they didn´t provide adequate care for the newts. Before that they had endured an importation from China, where they were originally captured. As you can imagine, the whole process has created huge amounts of stress for the poor animals. Many have died in the process, others are ill, but all of them are stressed and vulnerable. In order for them to recover, and to shake off the stress, they require excelent conditions. Water quality must be excelent, light levels should be dim, temperatures should be ideal (about 18-20ºC), food options should be live, etc.
Make sure to read the articles regarding this species, and the basic housing and care for caudates. You can find them in my signature.

Are you sure that they are eating anything at all? Newts can go for weeks without eating, so it's possible that they aren't, unless you have some way to confirm it. Some of these FAQ and associated articles might help:
Caudata Culture - Frequently Asked Questions