Dehydrated red spotted newt

Hello –
About 10 months ago we caught two wild Red Spotted Newts. They were both in their adult aquatic stage and were caught in a mountain stream and gave them to my boyfriends' family as pets. One always ate pretty good and the other did not. They would not eat on their own but had to be hand fed. They only eat frozen blood worms. The caregiver tried guppies, crickets, and Reptile/Amphibian pellets but with no success. I am a little fuzzy on the details but the newt that always ate well and had good body weight died recently and the other one who has always been difficult to get to eat stopped eating almost all together. They found that there was an infestation of tiny white insects in the terrarium section of the habitat so they took out all of the soil and micro-waved it which cleared up that problem. The remaining newt, though he is eating again, is very emaciated and spends the majority of his time in the terrarium. When he does go in the water he floats at the top and does not dive down at all. He is lethargic and appears to be very dehydrated based on his appearance and the fact that his body floats very high in the water. Perhaps dehydration is keeping him from being able to dive down into the water. What can I do to rehydrate him? Also any advice or observations that may be helpful in figuring out his ailment and how to help him recover would be appreciated greatly. I will say that right off there are some things that need to be fixed and will be addressed. His tank water temp stays between 69 and 72 so will need to be moved to a cooler location. The ph which I just checked is currently at 8.3 so we will bring that down. The Nitrite level is at 0.3 which is within the recommended level and I am waiting on the results of the ammonia test but they keep the tank clean so I don't think it will be a factor. They are currently using well water which also has city water in it as well so based on your articles I will recommend they switch to one of the suggested spring waters. Thank you for your help in advance. I really want him to start feeling better asap and to make sure he is on the road to full recovery.
Thank you,
Jen}

snip "They found that there was an infestation of tiny white insects in the terrarium section of the habitat so they took out all of the soil and micro-waved"endsnip

These were probably springtails and are harmless.. They are common in soil based terraria.

snip "The remaining newt, though he is eating again, is very emaciated and spends the majority of his time in the terrarium."endsnip

Feed small meals daily until normal weight is achieved.

snip "He is lethargic and appears to be very dehydrated based on his appearance and the fact that his body floats very high in the water. Perhaps dehydration is keeping him from being able to dive down into the water."endsnip

If the substrate is moist the newt is not dehydrated unless there is some other pathology going on with the skin. If the newt is as emaciated as you suggest, it may lack the necessary muscle tissue to allow it to be able to sink and in addition as it was terrestrial, it's skin has modified itself and may also be hindering its ability to return to the aquatic life.


snip "I will say that right off there are some things that need to be fixed and will be addressed. His tank water temp stays between 69 and 72 so will need to be moved to a cooler location."endsnip

While a cooler location will help these temperatures are within the correct paramaters.

snip "The ph which I just checked is currently at 8.3 so we will bring that down. The Nitrite level is at 0.3 which is within the recommended level"endsnip

The recommended parameters for nitrite is 0. Anything over that is a problem and could be partly why the newt doesn't enter the water. I would also suggest modifying the pH. What is the pH of the water coming out of the tap? One of the first things I think of with pH that high is that there haven't been sufficient water changes.

Ed

When an eastern newt is out of water for a while, their skin changes to the terrestrial form, and then it's difficult for them to get wet again. This could be why the newt cannot dive under the water.

Another reason for such a high pH can be the use of limestone, shells, or cement blocks in the tank. Remove any of these, and do check the tapwater pH, as Ed says.

I would recommend a cooler location, particularly at this time of year. Rather than rehydrate him, just make sure he eats and the substrate stays moist.

Dear Jennifer Green-Feild Smith, Jennifer Macke is right. The Red spotted newt actually as three stages. larva-eft-newt After completeing the larval stage the red spotted newt spends about three years on land in the red eft stage. The skin does look dried up but while in the eft stage this creature stays entirely on land. It will later become the adult and spend the rest of its life in the water. It also changes from red to green in the adult stage.your newt is doing fine - no need to worry.

Hello,

Thank you all so much for your feedback. He is spending more time in the water and is eating a worm/day. We learned some important information from your responses and that helps immensely. The substrate on the terrarium side was not kept moist so that must be contributing to his dehydration and that is easily fixed. His water ph is now staying at about 6.8 and as I stated before he is spending more time on his bridge, in the water. We were aware of the three stages that the Red Spotted newt go through and are positive he has past his eft stage and is in his full-aquatic adult stage (he just hasn't been fully aquatic). Hopefully with these changes made to his water and terraria he is feeling better. I will be sure to post regarding his recovery. Thanks again for all of you help. Jenn