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maggie

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my son bought a newt home from first grade in grammar school for the summer. we think he is a spotted newt???..
meanwhile my son just celebrated his 29th birthday!!..
"issac"(newt) has been doing very well all this time till lately
how long do newts live??
currently issac has lost weight and is very lethargic.. if i clean out his tank he "wakes up" and eats well for a few days then goes back to not eating and lethargy.. i have been therefore changing his tank frequently and he responds the same..any suggestions??
he has subsisted all these 25 years on tropical fish food..i was always afraid to give him anything else as he seemed happy..the few other things i tried he didn't eat anyway
any ideas????
how long DO newts live
 
Wow, that's really impressive. I had an eastern newt that lived over 20 years, but it's rare for them to live so long.

I am curious to know for sure what kind of newt yours is. Does it look like this species:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Notophthalmus/N_viridescens.shtml

I don't know why it's lethargic, but it's a very old newt. If it's still eating and looks OK, it may be fine. Could it be too warm? You might try reducing its temperature if you can.
 
If you give it Bloodworms it might be more interested in food...Congrats on your long lived newt...Hope he lives even longer.
 
well, i guess i'm not sure what kind of newt he is...he is dark dark brown/black with red spots on his underside.. not very brillant tho he may have been brighter when he was younger.
i don't know if it matters but when he was about 3 years old he "fell" out of his tank and he wasen't found for many hours..at that time he was as stiff as a board with no signs of life,, i put him in a saucer of water overnite planning on a funeral the next morning... instead he "rehydrated".. his tail fell off all his toes fell off and his nose shed its skin then grew back pink.. all his limbs grew back but is tail has a "knot" where the new growth starts..
he still sheds his skin as often as every few days to every 2 weeks and always when i change his tank water.
 
Sounds like a kind of fire belly newt...Most likely a chinese fire belly.
 
Totally guessing, but I doubt they ever live this long in the wild. My bet would be 7-10 years at most.
 
Thanks. I have one, and I hope he/she has a long and happy life.
 
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