Shanjing update

G

gord

Guest
Hey folks:

Thought I'd start a new thread as the other one was getting longish.

I'm pleased to say the two shanjing I've been treating for "bloat like" symptoms are doing well. The small one ate and has now pooped. Both are alert and staying mostly hidden in their caves. I will be stopping the hypertonic solution and will wet the towel with water as of this morning. Will see how that goes. How long should I keep them in quarantine?

I've set up a new tank for them and would appreciate comments. It's a 30 gallon..they were in a ten before. I think part of the problem in the old tank was the substrate. It smelled bad when I took the tank apart and Ed guessed anaerobic bacteria. Not good. This new tank substrate has jungle earth, coconut mulch and I mixed in some soil from my worm farm. I know some of you don't like shanjing on mulch/earth. It's winter here in Ontario so the moss is under 2 feet of snow. I'm tempted to put gravel on top of the mulch..or some of it.Thoughts?

I've also added a little pool at the bottom. I based at least part of this design on Duncan from Alberta's gorgeous shanjing tank (another Canadian herper!). I will be able to fill the pool deeper if I get to breeding them. The tank has a waterproof divider. I've included a slightly blurry shot for you to consider.

Thanks again to all who've shared their expertise. I'll keep you posted.

Gord
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Maybe I missed it in the first thread but were you keeping them on peat or sphagnum moss??

Personally I keep them on cypress mulch at home.

Ed
 
Ed: They were on wild sphagnum before(on topsoil)..which broke up and turned brown.I'd been trying to replace it with a different type of wild moss that was drier, lower, and not so prone to falling apart...but then winter came.

The disintegrating/rotting sphagnum seemed to be the source of the smell.

I've never seen Cypress mulch..is it similar to the Jungle Earth product? How dry/damp do you keep the mulch? Do you feed them on it..or do you forcep them?

Gord
 
Hi Gord,

the bloating could (I stress could) have also been due to the acidity of the sphagnum moss (even degraded its pretty acidic) as it can disrupt thier osmotic potential.
I buy my Cypress mulch in three cubic foot bags from large garden centers and even one of the big box home improvement centers and it is finely milled (its a type of wood mulch). It packs down nicely and takes quite awhile to break down. You are getting your anaerobic smell as there isn't any oxygen penetration into the lower levels of the tank. This will occur regardless of the substrate used unless you can get some kind of water circulation. I layer the mulch up so it ranges from fairly damp to pretty dry and plant the plants directly into the mulch. I do feed off of forceps as this way I can be sure that they are all getting feed.
If I remember correctly the Jungle Earth has cypress mixed into it (the wood chips) as well as other products.

If you want to grow a nice type of wild moss, get some peat moss and mix it 50/50 with silica sand and wet it throughly. Place this into a shallow pot or tray cover with plastic to keep the humidity in and place in bright indirect light (I place it under a couple of 4 foot flourescents) and in a couple of months I have a moss that when transplanted into cages with decent lights grows great.

Ed
 
Saturday Dec 31 (day 5 of quarantine):

Both newts look good this morning, alert and no sign of bloat.They've been out of the hypertonic for 24 hours. Signs of pooping in both cages.I've left some pieces of worm in both tubs this am. Will check in a few hours of the ate.

I'm getting antsy to move them back into their new enclosure. However, I think I'll wait until 2006!

Ed: Thanks for the tip on moss. I'll be trying that for sure.

Dan:Thanks for the nice compliment on the tank. I've added a bit of birch tree leaf litter I dug out of my back fence area and have thawed out.Will likely string some pothos along the back as well for more shade.

Gord
 
Jan 1. 2006

Happy New Year.

Today I made the move. My two shanjing went into their new home. They were both alert and looking out of their quarantine caves this morning when I put the light on. Both looked hungry. I decided to move them after making a few minor changes to their new tank. I filled in all inaccessible or potentially dangerous hiding spots and spread some birch leaves around on the substrate.It is damp but not wet. I also lowered the water in the "pond" a bit. Then they went in the tank. They seemed very content and sat for along time.In time, they both headed for the ferns. The little shanjing - the one that has been rather sick for a good three weeks - looked like his old self. Very alert and on the hunt. The big girl looked a little more tired and a bit skinny. She barely ate in quarantine...although she was pooping every day. Half the size of her "bloaty" self from a week ago. But she's clear eyed and moving.

Anyway, after an hour I decided to see if they would eat.I put two pieces of worm in and immediately the small one was on them. He grabbed a chunk and then did a weird wiping thing I've not seen before. Just wiped that worm all over everything. Maybe the substrate on the worm was bugging him? Dunno. But he ate it. The other one did not respond much more than a look. All in good time. I'll be monitoring them both closely and hope they don't show any more symptoms.

I feel lucky that I had the help I did on this forum or I'm pretty sure these newts would now be dead.

Thank you all.

A couple pics will follow.

Gord
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Here are a couple more pics.

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(Message edited by jennewt on January 04, 2006)
 
Jan 3 update:

Just a quick update. The small newt seems totally back to normal and is exploring its new tank and eating. Unfortunately, the larger one does not seem that well. It has barely moved from under the ferns since I put it in two days ago, although it is quite alert. It has no interest in food. I'm just going to have to wait it out I guess and hope for the best. It was a bit of a traumatic week.

No signs of bloat re-appearing so far. If it does, I can only assume it has some sort of kidney failure.

Fingers are crossed.

Gord
 
Jan 3, update 2!

About an hour after I posted, I went to check on the shanjing tank again (it's in my home office..and today I'm working). The bigger newt was suddenly walking for the first time in two days..and I noticed it was shedding at its head.I watched the whole thing, and it was fascinating. I just watched both my verrucosus shed underwater last week, and it was similar with the shanjing,just slower. And the skin came off well.Really neat to see the newt help itself out of its own skin by grabbing the shed and pulling. It ate the shed of course. So maybe she has been sitting there waiting for this to happen? I've heard shedding can follow stress etc. But hopefully this is a good sign.

GE
 
Jan 4 update:

Pleased to say both my newts ate this morning.The shedding seemed to bring the larger one back to normal as well. Both were very active in the tank this morning. Checking things out.

I think that will be it for updates unless something radical happens.

Gord
 
Gord, thank you for keeping us informed and good luck with the animals.
 
That's a lovely tank, Gord. Would it be OK if I use your photo on Caudata Culture?
 
Jennifer:

Thank you for the kind words. All the ideas for the tank were stolen/borrowed from other Shanjing owners on this forum, so be my guest. The newts really do seem to like it and are very active. Can't wait till the tank grows out a bit and gets the "jungle look".

Gord
 
Jen:

I realized you probably would like me to describe the tank...? Here goes anyway.

Anyway...

The tallish tank is 18 x 29.5 x 12 inches. A 30 gallon? I picked it up at a yard sale for $25. It has a glass divider siliconed in at about the half way point. I've siliconed smooth granite rocks to the divider. The land side is filled out by styrofoam to keep it light. You can't see it but its there. The substrate is a mix of jungle earth,coconut mulch and soil from my worm bed. I mixed in some leaf mulch and birch leaves from my yard. The water side has gravel and is bordered at the back by a large piece of drift wood. A smaller piece of malaysian wood is on the beach. The newts can crawl across the back of the water section and stay dry. The pool is small, but could be expanded by simply adding water. The pond has elodea in it. The plants on the land side are two ferns I bought at a greenhouse, some tropical thing I bought at Walmart and various clippings of Pothos etc. from other tanks.An apple tree limb is there for the Pothos to wrap on.I have a ficis "tree" hyrdoponically set in the water and gravel. Time will tell how it does. I've used silk ficis plants for more cover on the glass. The tank stays at about 70 f. during the day and drops to the mid 60s at night. It is screened and has a 15 watt #2 repti glo lamp. Keeping the tank moist doesn't seem to be a problem so far.

Gord
 
Nice tank, seems like you have put down quite a lot of effort into it. I'd remove the repti-glo lamps though, newts don't need them.
 
There's plants in there too.. they might appreciate the lamps.
 
Jesper:nerd

Yes, there is a lamp in there. That's because the tank is in a basement room with no windows. It would be like the bat cave without a lamp. I know newts like it dark but.... and yes Ester, the plants like light too!

Gord
 
Jesper..didn't mean to put the end of my username behind the colon behind your name. A whoops. I'm sure you are not a nerd!

Gord
 
Jan 8/05

Hello:

The newts have been in their new digs for a week today. Generally, things are good. Both are acting healthy,with the smaller one especially active in the morning when the light comes on. The larger shanjing still does not move much, and she has eaten only once that I've seen in a week(there are some rogue worm chunks wriggling in the litter). I may have to work on her a bit as the worm has to be super active just to get her attention. The substrate (coconut/jungle earth/soli) is actually staying damper, longer than I thought it would so I've backed off the misting a bit. It seems drier is largely better with these critters. They are both parked under the ferns.I've hesitated to put a cave back in the tank because they usually just stay in there forever. I like to see them. Maybe I should put one back in?

Anyway, That's it for now.

Gord
 
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