spookgoblin
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- Sep 25, 2014
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Cyrax, my rough skinned newt, lives in a large, 50 gallon tank with seven, younger dudes of the Northwestern Salamander variety. For months, these guys have palled around together and enjoyed each other's company (they still do, in fact--they're almost always together). This past week, Cyrax hasn't been eating and he's been very difficult to read.
At first, I thought he might have contracted an illness so I isolated him in a small, 10 gallon tank with very little furnishing save for a bowl of water. While he was in there, he just moped around and didn't move too much. Once I re-introduced him to the big tank, he joined back up with his roommates. I don't claim to be an expert by any means, but I haven't noticed any weird, bodily anomalies. He doesn't appear to have lost any weight, either.
I was feeding all of them mealworms (and I recently read that this shouldn't be their staple food, so I plan on switching that up--despite the littler guys loving them), but Cyrax won't touch them now. Even when they're super active, wriggly worms, he either turns his head with disinterest or backs away from them. I thought, then, that I might try a few other foods in case something else would catch his attention. He didn't care for crickets and he let little fish swim right past him without the slightest notion of interest. I had planned to try a few more things out, but the local pet store has really meager options...
To me, the strongest candidate seems to be stress-related, but if this is the case, I can't figure out what's causing it. People have said that temperature can be a factor, but the tank is a similar temperature to what it has always been (about 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit) ever since I found him 4+ years ago. Others have said that changing the tank's environment can stress them out too. I did recently rearrange the tank when I was searching for a missing salamander (those little ones are REALLY good at hiding). Now, Cyrax has a lot of personality, but I've never known him to mope so much when I've switched a few things around in the tank. The land to water ratio hasn't changed significantly (if at all). It's mostly just the location of things like rocks that has changed. I also read that if there aren't enough places for him to hide, he could get stressed out, so I've tried to create a few new cubbies here and there. He definitely gravitates towards them (in fact, they all do), but he still is acting weird and not eating, though.
Any ideas? I'd love to get Cyrax eating again to put my mind at ease.
At first, I thought he might have contracted an illness so I isolated him in a small, 10 gallon tank with very little furnishing save for a bowl of water. While he was in there, he just moped around and didn't move too much. Once I re-introduced him to the big tank, he joined back up with his roommates. I don't claim to be an expert by any means, but I haven't noticed any weird, bodily anomalies. He doesn't appear to have lost any weight, either.
I was feeding all of them mealworms (and I recently read that this shouldn't be their staple food, so I plan on switching that up--despite the littler guys loving them), but Cyrax won't touch them now. Even when they're super active, wriggly worms, he either turns his head with disinterest or backs away from them. I thought, then, that I might try a few other foods in case something else would catch his attention. He didn't care for crickets and he let little fish swim right past him without the slightest notion of interest. I had planned to try a few more things out, but the local pet store has really meager options...
To me, the strongest candidate seems to be stress-related, but if this is the case, I can't figure out what's causing it. People have said that temperature can be a factor, but the tank is a similar temperature to what it has always been (about 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit) ever since I found him 4+ years ago. Others have said that changing the tank's environment can stress them out too. I did recently rearrange the tank when I was searching for a missing salamander (those little ones are REALLY good at hiding). Now, Cyrax has a lot of personality, but I've never known him to mope so much when I've switched a few things around in the tank. The land to water ratio hasn't changed significantly (if at all). It's mostly just the location of things like rocks that has changed. I also read that if there aren't enough places for him to hide, he could get stressed out, so I've tried to create a few new cubbies here and there. He definitely gravitates towards them (in fact, they all do), but he still is acting weird and not eating, though.
Any ideas? I'd love to get Cyrax eating again to put my mind at ease.