Newt died?

I Brought home 2 red-spotted newts yesterday from son's school. Placed them in a 10 gal tank, 1/2 land, 1/2 water. was told by pet store to have temp 72-78deg, placed basking lamp over aquarium. this morning we found one of them dead. the other seems to be doing okay, wandering from land to water and back. any idea what might have killed him/her? was it too hot? (around 76-78deg most of yesterday). I treated the water with stuff from the pet store, could it be the water? just the stress of moving them? HELP, i don't want the other to die also.

First thing to do, remove the heat lamp. Newts don't need it at all....in fact keeping newts is more about keeping them cold enough...the other could be wandering about because it's un happy about the heat.
Myself, i don't treat water at all (though some people here i believe do). I use aged tap water.
Put the tank in a cool shaded spot until the animal adapts to it's new environment and see if the newts any happier.

i have already removed heat lamp. tank is cooling to around 72.

another question. the pet store said to feed them crickets or meal worms. even the small crickets are really too big for this newt (it is only about 2in long) i have tried meal worms by tweezer but he shows absolutely no interest. any other ideas?
thanks for the help.

It probably wont eat until it's settled into it's new environment.
When it does it should start to take food. I feed caudates this small appropriately sized/or cut up earth worms, pinhead crickets and lesser wax worms. I don't know places in the US to buy things like blackworm....hopefully as US member will provide a link for such live foods.
Also, meal worms are not a good food source in my opinion.
Pet stores very rarely have a clue about keeping these kinds of animals im afraid...but you've found the right place to ask questions here,
Good luck!

Thanks again.

one more question for anyone. The filter is an under gravel filter. it creates a lot of bubbles on the surface of the water. is there any reason to be concerned about this?

You may not have seen this care sheet for red-spotted newts:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Notophthalmus/N_viridescens.shtml

This care guide will provide the answers to your questions including housing temps, feeding and the animal's preference for quiet waters.

(Message edited by jan on May 28, 2006)

Hi Misti. While some keepers like undergravel filters, most do not. Waste and uneaten food often becomes lodged between the filter plate and the sides and bottom of the aquarium. Some people like to use that along with another type of filter.

If I were you I would go with another type, but some people use this filter, so it is not "wrong".

Andy is right- mealworms are not a great staple food- too high in fat I believe. If your pet store does not carry blackworms, you could perhaps ask them to order them for you. You can also try frozen bloodworms (mine don't like them but others here have better success with them), Earthworm are probably the best choice, I've found my eastern newts love live food more than frozen, freeze dried or pellets.

Try to keep the water (and room) temp lower. it's a real challenge, especially during the summer months, but I try to keep mine below 70 F whenever possible. I keep the AC on while I'm at work and at night. the newts can definitely act stressed if it gets warm. Even 72 is getting up there- the cooler the better. I keep jugs of tap water (let sit at room temp for 24 hrs) in my fridge, so if the water gets warm, I dump some out and replace with the cold water. Of course, you end up doing this everyday (and several times a day if it's really hot). But, it's better than stressed newts.

For a filter, I use a duetto 50, which is great because it doesn't dissipate too much heat and it has an adjustable water output. I don't think eastern newts like water current that much so you can adjust the output to a gentle water flow. There are other great filters out there too.

This site is great- you can always do a search for whatever you have a question about and find out new info. Good luck! I know my newts bring me much joy and I hope your little one does too!

On the mealworm fat content....

It surprises me that so many people embrace the use of waxworms (both greater and lesser) and thier high fat content but deride the use of mealworms...

The fat content of mealworms falls within the guidelines the diet of carniverous animals (60% fat/kcal) and the amount of fat in the diet needs to be considered in the context of the total calories supplied by the diet.

Ed

I don't like meal worms....not because of their fat content but because of their hard casing and there jaws. I'd use those that had recently shed however.
All my animals have a staple diet or earthworms with wax worms thrown in every 3rd or so feed.
I'd not encourage anybody to feed their animals wax worms as a staple, in fact i'd have thought the wax worms had a much higher fat content than meal worms?

(Message edited by andrew on May 29, 2006)

I'm sorry, I was thinking of waxworms when I commented about the "high fat" content of mealworms in my post. Didn't mean to give misinformation!

thanks again everyone for the help. I found some earthworms, and have tried to feed henry (our newt) these. I have cut two or three small pieces off and tried to give them to him. I have placed them in a feeding dish and i have also tried to give them to him with a pair of tweezers. he hasn't eaten anything since I got him last friday.

also, is it unusual for the newt to not spend hardly any time in the water? he spends a large portion of his day either on the land near a plant or inside of a log on the dry side (I have it sloped into the water). Should I be concerned?