Fire Belly making bubbles, good or what?

[justin]

Is it a good sign when your chinese fire belly surfaces and lets out a bubble then goes back down? I am just curious.

 

[janice]

Newts do that. Sometimes my taricha blows out a cluster of bubbles which makes a tiny raspberry sound...so cute. But there are experts here who can tell you more...!

 

[justin]

Ok also, could one of my newts be pregnant? First off I cannot tell if it is a guy or a girl so I am not sure. Second, it does not seem to do much moving but she has not had anything to eat for awhile either (4 days). It is very large in the stomach region and is very terrestrial, but stays near the waters edge (almost exclusively). Any ideas on why?

 

[meghan]

newts don't get pregnant....they lay eggs

 

[benjamin]

The behaviour you describe in your first post is called guffing, it's completely normal. When newts surface they often take in too much air to sink back down so they'll float for a few seconds, and then release a bubble and sink back down.

Though newts don't get pregnant, they do get gravid: when they store up eggs before laying. Some newts do not eat when they are gravid; however, I haven't noticed this in chinese firebellies. They do get fat but going terrestrial is strange for a gravid newt.