Help please!!

[ed]

My newts seem not to have eaten since arriving from the pet store four days ago. In addition one has developed sores on his front knees. They are currently spending all their time on the moss land part and avoiding the water. The tank is set up well and they are only young (one and a half inches)
Can you help?

 

[paris]

i am going to take a very good guess that your 'fire belly' newts are cynops orientalis -they are the most popular sold and mostly have an aversion to water. it is not uncommon for them to become hydrophobic upon being offered land. to not eat for a week is not going to effect the newts much. they probably didnt eat at the pet store either though -so they will need to. what food items are you offering them?

you can lower the rocks/beach (what ever you have for land) and moss-or raise the water level so that even when they are on land they are not able to dry out all the way -this will make it easier for them to go back to water (when newts dry out enough they will repel water - and entering water is thus a difficult task for the small ones).

the sores are a bad thing-there may be someone here-notibly jenni (jennewt) that can help you with over the counter meds. my old solution- before i got a good vet and thus a supply of batryl -was very barbaric-i used to amputate the effected limb-that was the only way i found to stop the infections from spreading (i tried sulfa bath and had poor results). the redness is from an infection -and since it probably didnt get hurt where you are then it came to you sick -they get very stressed in the poor conditions they are shipped and kept in-plus they are exposed to many others who can easily spread the problem. best advice is to see a vet and get them all treated -but this is not always available- so i suggest trying some over the counter fish meds and raising water level so that they are more likely to enter water -and try to feed them in water-so they will have a good association to it.

on land they hunt by sight -and some food like crickets are too fast and agressive-especially for stressed and weak newts. in water you can offer worms-especially blood worms -frozen cubes are often sold-this food does well to excite feeding responses and appetites in many picky and poor eaters. in water newts hunt by scent -so once they are in it they will be drawn to it. if they eat well that will boost their health and they will be better equipped to fend off sickness.

for the one with symptoms though it may be fully systemic- it will need medication -and for good measure i'd treat them all.

 

[ed]

now one is on deaths door, his legs are vanishing and he is limp and lifeless....
very sad about it