Help with firebelly newt eft

Adri

Adri

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I have a firebelly newt eft who refuses to eat. It's been almost a week since it last ate anything (about the length of time I've had it) and I'm worried for it. Aside from not eating, it mostly just hides during the day and comes out at night if it comes out at all. I've tried tempting it with frozen bloodworms, but haven't been successful. I keep it in a small tank with a paper towel bottom and sphagnum moss for it to hide in. Is there anything I can do to make it comfortable enough to at least eat? We are having a sort of heat wave now, maybe that has something to do with it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
I would try feeding something that moves - small earthworms pieces, springtails, fruit flies, aphids etc..
A picture of the enclosure would help :)
 
Like sde said, I would recommend small live foods, if you can find something small enough, make it something fatty and irresistible, if they are small enough, get wax-worms or earthworms, you may have to cut them up into chunks for it to eat (The chunks wiggle for a while)
 
Ok thanks for the help :). I will try to post a picture as soon as I can
 
Most of the info you need is in this sticky thread, have a read through it and also try to use the search function in the green bar at the top of the page, there are lots and lots of threads about newly purchased Chinese firebellies that won't eat all answered with the same info.
Where did you get the 'eft' from? If you got it from a breeder what were they feeding it? If,on the other hand it came from a pet store it is almost certainly a mature adult, even if it seems quite small. As Seth says, a picture of the newt and its tank would make offering advice much easier.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...-new-chinese-fire-belly-newts-not-eating.html
 
I am quite sure the newt is an eft; I actually got it from a guy here on this site. I haven't measured him at all, but he's probably not even 2 in long yet. I actually am not sure what they were being fed prior. It was probably a mistake on my part not to ask, but this is my first time buying from a breeder
 

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Oh and here is my setup. I modeled it off of pictures and advice I found online for raising efts.
 

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That's not a very good home for a terrestrial juvenile I would suggest something like this
c66c6e3e63e767a804bd242973ad9a87.jpg


That's a home for one of my juvenile fire bellies...just a plain black soil bottom with a piece of cork bark and frog and sphagnum moss..mist it up so its damp but not soaking wet and give it a quick mist once a day.

As for feeding once you get his home a bit more accommodating try tweeser feeding him chopped earthworms and get some pinhead crickets and some reptile dust to dust a few and throw in with him cause he might be more inclined to eat at night undisturbed until he settles in



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Ok, thanks, that picture really helps. I just have one question about yours though. I see you have a shallow water dish for them to sit in. I had a dish very similar to that one in the tank originally, but it didn't seem to work out well. I had a second eft who was much more active, but it somehow drowned in the water dish overnight. The water was shallow (probably half an inch, if that) so I hadn't expected that to happen. Is that something I should worry about with this one? Or is there some way I can prevent that from happening again.

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I'm doing the best I possibly can for my newt
 
I wouldent worry about a dish for yours he's still really tiny once he get bigger then I would put a very shallow dish to introduce them to water and half an inch is still too deep for little guys you want it to be no deeper than up too there shoulders


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Oh ok, now I feel pretty dumb :/. But thanks for the advice, I'll get his tank fixed up in the morning to something he'll hopefully like better
 
Also, supply tons of small live foods in the enclosure (Springtails, isopods, other small terrestrial invertebrates) so it can forage for food whilst in it's enclosure
 
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  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
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