Firebelly Newt

thelastbetta

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Hello I'm the owner of an impulse buy baby firebelly newt. He's about 1 inch and is in my 10 gallon which is filled to about 2 gallons of water. He's the cutest thing but I've got a few questions.

1. How big will he get?
2. Is a 10 gallon an ok size?
3. What does he eat?
4. Is it ok to handle him?

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1. I've seen some get 6-7 inches.
2. Ten gallons should be an okay size tank, i've kept them in 5-10 gallons with no problems.
3. Crickets, tubifex worms, water fleas, baby guppies, various other bugs like mealworms, etc. Some eat reptomin..but I highly prefer live and frozen fish foods. Not only is it more likely accepted, but in the long run..reptomin has been shown to cause abnormalities when used as the main diet. There are many other salamander and newt staple diets out there that can be fed in moderation also.
4. It is not okay to handle it. To move it, etc. is the only time you should handle it. Salts and oils from your hands will damage it's slime coating, and the heat will do the same, and stress it.


Btw, try getting it eating as soon as you can. IMO from what I can see, it looks a bit skinny.
 
How do I feed him? Whenever I go near the tank he'll usually swim away into a corner or something.

Also could a baby firebelly newt even take down a cricket?
 
Oh one other question, I noticed you said salt harmed them, does this mean aquarium salt can harm them too? I know some people put a tiny pinch into their tank to keep parasites away.
 
Help would be nice.. I've put some bloodworms down and they're just sat there. Will he notice them? I'm used to betta's and betta's do not notice their food unless you show it to them most of the time so I'm not sure how it is with newts.
 
get the "pinhead" sized crickets. :nod: and definitely no salt in the water whatsoever.

it might not recognize the bloodworms as being food... if you've got a pair of tweezers or similar, try pinching one end of a couple of bloodworms and waving it in front of the baby's nose. the movement should stimulate feeding behavior. just get the worms to "wiggle" a bit.
 
AAAWWW!! :wub: i always wanted one of those! sorry i can't help with the problem, but most of them i've seen don't get too awful big. btw, if you ever get the other gender and have babies, PLEASE gimme a PM! :D
 
1. How big will he get?
Judging by the look of yours, he's probably a Chinese FireBelly Newt. He looks identical to mine, who is about 3.5 inches long at 3 years old.

2. Is a 10 gallon an ok size?
Yep. Just keep the water portion clean, and include plenty of land areas for him.

3. What does he eat?
Mine likes small crickets, frozen bloodworms, freeze-dried tubifex, small mealworms, and live baby fish (I used to give him deformed livebearer fry that weren't going to make it due to physical abnormality...he LOVED it).

4. Is it ok to handle him?
Nope. He's toxic to us and we're toxic to him. I won't even touch mine without something between my skin and his if I can help it, even when moving him, just to be completely safe for his sake.

Newts are generally too timid to take well to being shown their food. Mine usually finds whatever I leave him just fine if I go away and let him eat in peace.
 
One thing to note is that he's coldwater, not tropical. Apparently they'll actually get quite sick in tropical water. So any tank-mates a Newt has will have to be other coldwater-tolerant.
 
Ok well I decapitated a baby comet but the body wont sink and he wasn't eating it when it was alive. :X Any suggestions? should I just leave the body floating there?
 
Ok well I decapitated a baby comet but the body wont sink and he wasn't eating it when it was alive. :X Any suggestions? should I just leave the body floating there?

no, clean that out. the baby comet might have been too big to catch his interest; have you tried small earthworms yet?
 
I removed it an hour later but the comet was only a baby, it wasn't even a half inch long so I don't see how he's not be able to catch it. :S

Should I just dig some earthworms up? or should I buy from a petstore?
 

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