Hello!
I found this cute amphibian in my local pet store and manages to persuade my dad into buying one for me. The shop owner wasn't of much help in terms on how to care for it, only told me it's a salamander, and after some questions, to keep it in shallow water and to feed it small fish.
I THEN did research to figure out what species it was, only to find out it's not native in Singapore. In fact, Singapore does not have any sorts of newts or salamanders. That posed a problem (or not); I couldn't release it, and I really wanted to care for it.
So... most guides I've seen are quite extensive, but I understand little of it. I'm not much of an aquarium person (I go to my dad if I want to know anything marine-related), and I don't have a lot of time to dedicate myself to caring for it. I'm a full-time student studying Pharmaceutical Sciences in a polytechnic, and little savings. Much of my time is spent on projects and compounding drugs for prescription and studying.
Okay, bottom line is this. Can anyone tell me how to care for my little newt (at least I think it is a newt)? It's about 10cm long, 1cm fat, overall brown colour with yellow-orange underbelly. There's some mottling colours but they're not very distinct. Comparing images of larvae and adults, I concluded my new baby was a very young adult Californian newt (Could someone confirm for me?).
So far I have it in a round plastic container, no glass tanks because I don't have one. My dad suggested to put in with the guppies and the like. It's a custom tank big enough for an arowana (or dragon fish). I wasn't sure if it could survive there, so I'm just keeping it with me for now. I change the water daily (either early morning or evening/late night, depending on when I get home), it is unfiltered. The water is natural water that was dug from a well (technically for my dad's plant watering), but I read it needed water without chlorine, and that was the only alternative that didn't require some dechlorinating tablet. I keep the container on my shelf, where there isn't much light and heat.
Feeding wise, it seems somewhat enthusiastic chomping on live guppies (had to hold them by the tail when I saw how clumsily amusing it moved). It eats them once daily, refuses any more guppies and turns away. I'm feeding it my dad's guppies (well, the less pretty ones), so I'm looking for a cheaper alternative for food source.
I glanced at it when I was free, it just curls its tail and moves to a different spot every one in a while. It moves upwards and gulps air about every 5 minutes (it uses lungs, right?)
That's pretty much it for current situation. I'd like loads of advice on what to do, what I should feed it, should I change container, how to tell when it gets sick, everything you can think of. I really would like it to not just survive, but thrive and be happy.
I'm willing to take pictures and whatnot, let me know if you need more info. So sorry for being a total newbie at this! ^^"
Thanks!
I found this cute amphibian in my local pet store and manages to persuade my dad into buying one for me. The shop owner wasn't of much help in terms on how to care for it, only told me it's a salamander, and after some questions, to keep it in shallow water and to feed it small fish.
I THEN did research to figure out what species it was, only to find out it's not native in Singapore. In fact, Singapore does not have any sorts of newts or salamanders. That posed a problem (or not); I couldn't release it, and I really wanted to care for it.
So... most guides I've seen are quite extensive, but I understand little of it. I'm not much of an aquarium person (I go to my dad if I want to know anything marine-related), and I don't have a lot of time to dedicate myself to caring for it. I'm a full-time student studying Pharmaceutical Sciences in a polytechnic, and little savings. Much of my time is spent on projects and compounding drugs for prescription and studying.
Okay, bottom line is this. Can anyone tell me how to care for my little newt (at least I think it is a newt)? It's about 10cm long, 1cm fat, overall brown colour with yellow-orange underbelly. There's some mottling colours but they're not very distinct. Comparing images of larvae and adults, I concluded my new baby was a very young adult Californian newt (Could someone confirm for me?).
So far I have it in a round plastic container, no glass tanks because I don't have one. My dad suggested to put in with the guppies and the like. It's a custom tank big enough for an arowana (or dragon fish). I wasn't sure if it could survive there, so I'm just keeping it with me for now. I change the water daily (either early morning or evening/late night, depending on when I get home), it is unfiltered. The water is natural water that was dug from a well (technically for my dad's plant watering), but I read it needed water without chlorine, and that was the only alternative that didn't require some dechlorinating tablet. I keep the container on my shelf, where there isn't much light and heat.
Feeding wise, it seems somewhat enthusiastic chomping on live guppies (had to hold them by the tail when I saw how clumsily amusing it moved). It eats them once daily, refuses any more guppies and turns away. I'm feeding it my dad's guppies (well, the less pretty ones), so I'm looking for a cheaper alternative for food source.
I glanced at it when I was free, it just curls its tail and moves to a different spot every one in a while. It moves upwards and gulps air about every 5 minutes (it uses lungs, right?)
That's pretty much it for current situation. I'd like loads of advice on what to do, what I should feed it, should I change container, how to tell when it gets sick, everything you can think of. I really would like it to not just survive, but thrive and be happy.
I'm willing to take pictures and whatnot, let me know if you need more info. So sorry for being a total newbie at this! ^^"
Thanks!
