Illness/Sickness: Regarding chinese fire belly newt

[dragonskeeper]

Hi there, I've had my Chinese fire belly newt about a month in this time, he's dined on tubifex worms which are freeze dried, food pellets and feeder guppies. I tend to like to provide him with variety. His terrarium half land mass half water, and the land is compiled of a coconut husk substrate.

In the past few days I tend to notice numerous white specks on land almost as if I'd sprinkled some sugar grains in selected areas. As this is my first FBN - I am unaware of what this may be. His behavior is not abnormal, however seeing these specks in certain places he likes to be makes me ponder wether or not I should be concerned.

Please feel free to share your thoughts with me;

thanks kindly,


Zack

 

[Jennewt]

It's hard to even speculate - there are many things it could be. Any chance of a good close-up photo? The odds are that it's something harmless, but try to look for possible causes - dust falling off the ceiling? Grains of sand from the aquatic part of the tank?

 

[AngieD]

Is the land kept moist? If it's damp for long periods of time, mould can form. My boyfriend keeps house snakes, and has a humid hide for them. We have to frequently check the spagnum moss for mould due to the fact it is kept moist (and we have found mould on one occasion).

I'm not saying the specks in your tank is mould, but it's a possibility if the land area is moist.

Are the specks actually on the newt, or just in the tank?

 

[Ed]

Another possibility comes to mind. If the white spots correspond to spots where there is a piece of substrate poking up above the rest of the substrate or are at high points, then you may be seeing salt deposits from water wicking up to those spots and evaporating. This is the same whitish salt that is commonly seen on the top of the soil in potted plants.

Ed

 

[Bellabelloo]

This is a post from Oct 2009

 

[AngieD]

Oops, my apologies!
I posted on it thinking it was new because it has come up as having a recent post