Handstands and a Hermit

Hi all, I have a couple of queries!

1. Have been reading as much as I can on this problem, but thus far have only found info on its occurrence in axies. One of my female CFBN is doing handstands all over the place - I'm guessing this is trapped wind/constipation/both. She's been doing this for a couple of days - is there anything I can do to help her along?

2. I originally had 4 of these newts: 2 females and 2 males. The males were always bullied and marginalized by the females, but together they got along ok. Now a month or so ago - one of the males swam into a temporary filter inlet, straight into the impeller. Newt everywhere. Never found his lower jaw or right leg, so had to throw away the entire piece of equipment in case they were still in there. The other male was pretty traumatized by this (as was I). The females started picking on him even worse, and he stopped eating, sat on a rock all day and pined. I since moved him into his own little 5 gallon habitat to recuperate, but he still barely eats. I managed to get a couple of blood-worms down him today but he ignores pellets and doesn't touch live daphnia. What can I do to pep him up? The poor guys emaciated, you can see every rib. He was always skinny but this is terrible. He does at least swim around now rather than sitting on a rock, but he won't last through winter like this!

Leave some bloodworms and chopped earthworm around the tank and in a cave, don't try to force him to eat because it will stress him out further.
You could try giving him a waxworm or 2 to help him fatten up a little, but don't make it a staple.

My larva started floating on his side when he had wind, so I lowered the water level to make him more comfortable until it passed, but I can't say whether that's the problem your girl has. Could you post a picture of her doing it?

AngieD said:

Leave some bloodworms and chopped earthworm around the tank and in a cave, don't try to force him to eat because it will stress him out further.
You could try giving him a waxworm or 2 to help him fatten up a little, but don't make it a staple.

My larva started floating on his side when he had wind, so I lowered the water level to make him more comfortable until it passed, but I can't say whether that's the problem your girl has. Could you post a picture of her doing it?

Click to expand...

Hi Angie, thanks for your advice and sorry for the delayed reply. The female as stopped floating following a particularly uh... large poo. Have stepped down feeding schedule and reduced fibre a little, as they were both looking fat anyway. Good idea on lowering the water level, if it happens again I'll try that.

The male has now been moved back into the main tank, but with a permeable plastic partition in place. The water is now aerated too and quality has improved greatly as a result. I got him to eat a couple of blood worms yesterday, but he showed no interest in eating today despite being offered pellets, which the others go mad for! I'm glad that force-feeding him is a bad idea, was dreading the prospect. I'll definitely look into waxworms, never considered giving them to phibs for some reason

Good to hear that things are looking up, let us know how they get on

Welllll things were looking a little better... the male escaped his partition for a heartfelt reunion with the females, he doesn't seem to be scared of them anymore... however, I can't get him to eat for love nor money I've tried thawed bloodworms (all sizes), dried tubifex, mushed up pellets, and chopped earthworms...
(never again please, I just really like earthworms for some reason... it was horrible :nono: I'm terribly sensitive, please forgive me).

I just bought some waxworms, but they look way to big for him. Do I need to chop those? They look like they might pop.

The poor little guy is so emaciated now, it's terrible. You can see every rib and bone. My housemate has taken to calling him Smeagol because well... he looks like it! He was skinny when he came to me, but never ever this bad

I just waved a waxworm at him and he liked the look of it, so I chopped it into three pieces. He took one readily! But no more than that, so he's had a third of a waxworm, wow. There was certainly nothing wrong with the worm because I put it in front of a paddletail and didn't even see it disappear. Unfortunately the female firebellies smelled the party and tried to eat poor Smeagol, so the partition went back in in a hurry....

It's no big surprise that he only took 1 piece, seeing as he hasn't eaten in a while. Offer him a piece once a day, no more than that. It might take him some time to get back 'into' eating properly

Ok I'll carry on giving him a third a day then, and try and integrate some other food as well as I gather the waxworms aren't very nutritious...

Not particuarly nutritious, but high in fat

Thanks for your advice, just thought I'd update - he's slowly gaining weight now, but very slowly. He will accept a few bloodworms or a tiny headless mealworm now, plus the waxworm bits. He's also hiding less and comes out to be fed!