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My Rescue Newt, thank you all

Alex Dow

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Hello everyone,

I'm Alex, and this is my first post on Caudata, but I've been using your forum for advice for the past 2 months. You see, 2 months ago is when I rescued my Newt, Kane. Yes, he's a rescued newt. He was living in very poor conditions at an acquaintances house, he hadn't been fed in 2 weeks, he had a litre of tap water that was never changed, and his bowl held about 1 litre of water when full.

So I offered his owner £10 the day after I first met him and took him to Aqua-Mania, my local amphibian specialists. I got him a tank, a small hut to live in and a turtle dock to live on. Since then I've had to learn a lot about amphibians since the only pet I've ever had have been dogs. At first I thought he was a Fire belly, turns out he's a paddletail. I was worried about the cloudy water, turns out it was new tank syndrome (which I've fixed). I though the white spot on his tail was a problem, turns out he's just male.

Most of the things I've learnt about Newts have been from this forum, and I'm very thankful to all of you, I still have a lot to learn, and he needs a bigger tank, but he's 5 1/4 inches long now and he seems quite happy. I'm proud to be his owner, and I feel a bond with him since I saved him. If any moderators would like to move this to a more visible place to let people see how they've helped me and Kane, that would be most appreciated.

Thank you all.


P.S. I do have a question though, he's been very active today in regards to swimming against the edge of the tank and jumping out of the water on occasions, is this because I need a bigger tank? Or is it because he's hungry?
 

Kaysie

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Welcome to the forum, Alex! We're glad we can be of service.

Do you test your water quality? Usually frantic swimming is a sign of high ammonia.
 

Alex Dow

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Thanks for the reply, I've tested his water and it turns out the Ammonia is between 0.5-1.0 ppm, I'm getting him a larger tank tomorrow, but due to his circumstances I don't have the 6 or so weeks it would take to cycle the tank, is there any advise you could give me regarding techniques or products that keep ammonia and nitrite levels low while the necessary bacteria grows in the tank, and also anything that helps stimulate the growth of the bacteria?
 

AngieD

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You'll find paddletails an interesting species to keep, my 2 can be very amusing at times
 
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