Picture of shedding FB- 'normal'?

[blackasher1]

Hi guys,
I got 2 firebellys in april and today when i went to feed them i noticed that Ted Newtgent was shedding. This has never happened before to either of them so I am unsure of what 'good' shedding looks like.

it looks like its going from his head downwards? sort of like pealing back a caseing. (i *think* its a 'he' haha)

If it it looks like unhealthy shedding- could it be due to temperature? I live in toronto and we're going through a bit of a heat wave with temperatures as high as 39º. I've been doing my best with trying to keep the water temperature suitable by floating ice packs, but it probably still gets a bit warm for the two

Any comments would be appreciated

x


PS sorry for the MEGA blurryness, it's night time here so the picture had to be taken in the dark.

 

[Jennewt]

Has the newt finished shedding by now? If so, then I wouldn't worry. If not, then it does seem abnormal for it to take so long. It's normal for them to shed from the head down. I assume the newt is in water, not on land?

 

[blackasher1]

yeah this little guy is almost always in water, id say 80% of the time. he eats well too which is good- my other newt can be a bit fussy and needs to be fed with tweezers. I don't know when he started shedding it must have been today, how long does it take for a newt to shed?

 

[Kaysie]

I've found that they can sometimes stall around the neck, but will usually shed within an hour. They'll also eat their shed skin.

 

[blackasher1]

Thank you, I'll check on him the morning and hopefully it's moved along. I posted a bit ago wondering if they had limb rot- i said that a few of their toes were orange. While looking around at other 'shedding' threads i found this one- http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=39289&highlight=shedding which has lots of beautiful pictures of a shedding FB- i also noticed it has the exact same toes! Are those normal? If so it would be a relief.

PS maybe a dumb question- but why do newts shed? is it just like how humans shed naturally? or is it if they are growing? haha

 

[Kaysie]

Those toes look normal to me. Orange toes are probably ok, but white or atrophied looking toes may be a problem.

As for why they shed... every animal sheds in some way. Humans shed skin flakes continuously, but newts do it all in one go.

 

[tomthlee]

I live in Toronto as well and I'm feeling you on the heatwave. I'm fortunate that my newt tank is in the basement but the temp is still crawling to 75F at the hottest part of the day. My grandma doesn't like the A/C so I can only turn it on when I come home from work. I might toss in a couple of frozen water bottles tomorrow to cool things down during the day.

 

[blackasher1]

I live in Toronto as well and I'm feeling you on the heatwave. I'm fortunate that my newt tank is in the basement but the temp is still crawling to 75F at the hottest part of the day. My grandma doesn't like the A/C so I can only turn it on when I come home from work. I might toss in a couple of frozen water bottles tomorrow to cool things down during the day.

we MIGHT be geting some rain tomorrow! YAY lol

 

[Kaysie]

If you're getting rain, it sure isn't coming from my side of the pond.

It's been scorching here. 95F+ for days. My poor amphibian room AC unit is maxed out. With it on full blast, I can only get water temps down to 70. I guess it's not too bad.

 

[blackasher1]

apparantly the rain was just a cruel rumour to get our hopes up. it's boiling here again today- i dont know what 40 C is in Farenheit.. one sec...104 F apparantly. i just moved the tank down to my basement where its a bit cooler then my room and floated another pack of ice... the newt still had all the skin around his neck, i just tugged it gently and it came loose so hopefully he can take care of it now? hope the little guy is alright... and when i say guy i mean possible guy. i should really get one of you guys to sex them for me im ever so confused.