HELP!...FireBelly Newt has not eaten anything in 4 weeks!..HELP!

toah · #1 (**permalink**) 07-25-2008, 11:03 PM

hey there...I'm new at keeping newts and I've only got one...I went away for hoilday and left Newtin in the care of one of my friends...they didnt do a very good job, over fed way to much!...I changed the water IMMEDIATLEY after i walked in the door...since then he has not eaten anything..that was 4 weeks ago...and still not interested in any thing...i even tried live food..(wax worms..meal worms...a small cricket)...nothing seems to spark his interest...when i changed his water i found some clear jelly with white dots in it...I was thinking it might be eggs(i only have one tho)..but i saw a pic on this site of firebelly newt eggs and it looks nothing like them...could this be a fungus?...If they are eggs is it usual for the female laying them to stop eating 4 awhile?...I'm new to this so its worrying me so much, i love my newt!...i dont want him/her to die?...please help!

froggsong · #2 (**permalink**) 07-26-2008, 01:15 AM

why aren't you feeding live food all the time? Just curious, it is always better to feed them bugs and such rather than prepared foods. Try adding some healthy guppies (small ones) to the water. If your only source of guppies is a pet store, I'm afraid you will have to get them healthy and fat before you can put them in with your newt. My newt hasn't eaten anything I have fed her in... 4 months? I am positive that she is eating the fish though, she's still nice and filled out. I don't have any idea about the jelly stuff, I thought eggs when I read that, but I don't have experience with eggs, so I can't tell you if that's what it was.

toah · #3 (**permalink**) 07-26-2008, 01:27 AM

...I dont like to feed live food because my landlord dosn't like reptiles and like crickets would definatley give him away...and i dont like keeping live worms onhand because they turn into bettles eventually and i dont want to keep them in the fridge next to my milk to hinder their growth because thats kinda gross lol...ew..!..Newtin used to eat frozen blood worms(LOVED them) and tubifex worms all the time...and i would wiggle my finger over the tank above his head and he would try to jump outta the water and bite my finger, really active, to cute..but now is so comotose..do your newts just hang out on land most of the time?..i heard thats not good, i dont know tho...Guppies need a heater for their tank...they wouldnt last long since firebellys need cold water, they dont do well at 75degrees which the guppies need to survive...ill try getting some white clouds, thats for the idea...

strange_screams · #4 (**permalink**) 07-26-2008, 02:14 AM

from my fish experience, id say he is constipated and it has turned into an infection...wouldn't know what to do for it though, i feed my fish the inside of frozen peas, but that only works for animals that are omnivores ..

so thats my 2 cents

toah · #5 (**permalink**) 07-26-2008, 03:06 AM

He cant poop?!...oh no!..lol..awe...constipation sucks lol...yah i would try the pea thing if he was eating...do you have expierence in owning newts 'strange'?...there seems to be waste when i clean the tank and i know its not rotten food..i take it out if he hasnt eaten it within an hour...i looked up 'bloat' in newts and that dosnt seem to be the problem, if he were constipated his tummy would be quite distendid...which is not the case here...hes not really skinny though which is surprizing considering the length of time he hasnt eaten...ah..whats wrong with him?! =(

strange_screams · #6 (**permalink**) 07-26-2008, 03:49 AM

nope, not really, had one once, with my first fish tank, was told that you could put them in the water with no land or anything...*sigh* that was 10 years ago, luckily i now know not to trust pet store employees

oh wait, except for me, at least im honest when i dont know something

but no, that was just a guess because i had a guppy recently that either got constipated or egg bound, she didnt look overly bloated but would pass goop that looked like puss, i thought I got her passed it, but after two weeks of treatment she stoped passing goop but i lost her anyway

so..i guess my other suggestion would be,,, are you sure she isnt eating anything, flys or knats.... or

can newts suffer from depression?

toah · #7 (**permalink**) 07-26-2008, 04:03 AM

...awe...i dont know if newts suffer from depression...that would make sence though..i did go away for about a week - thats when he stopped eating - i used to play with him all the time...(i wouldnt handel him much just for cleaning)...but i used to wiggle my finger at him and hed be all happy to see me commin up to the glass of the tank all stolked to be the center of attention..man i hope hes ok..i hope he pulls through...its so silly i never thought i could get SO attached to something so small and slimey lol..

froggsong · #8 (**permalink**) 07-26-2008, 06:04 AM

Ummmm, since when do common guppies REQUIRE a heater? I have my guppies in two different tanks WITHOUT heat and they are THRIVING. You seem to be a new keeper, please don't act like people that give you advise don't know what they are talking about. I have some 30 + guppies, most of which are in an unheated tank, and if they are feeders anyway, you shouldn't be worried about it since they will be consumed (though guppies do FINE in room temp water, believe me, do you want me to take some pics for you?) Keeping the live feeders your pet NEEDS next to the milk in your refrigerator should not be an issue for you, if it was, you shouldn't have bought your pet. I sure have never been able to get my newt to eat anything that wasn't alive. And why would it be funny if your newt can't poop? How would you feel? Constipation isn't cute. Are you certain that the newt isn't eating PART of what you are feeding? As far as crickets giving away that you have the animal, newts find it very difficult to catch crickets because they move slowly, at least in my experience, so you shouldn't be trying to feed your newt crickets anyway. Rather blood worms, tubifex worms, fish, or shrimp if it spends most of it's time in the water, or freshly molted mealworms, waxworms, or red wigglers if it spends enough time on land for you to feed it on land. The prepared food that is most often suggested for newts is a sinking pellet, MY newt will not eat off the bottom of her tank, will yours? Like I said, I have not gotten my newt to eat anything I have tried to feed her in four months or so, but she is still healthy and active. Her water temp is at 76 degrees or so (room temp in my house) and the guppies that are in her tank are THRIVING, breeding, and if she were not eating them, the population would be quite out of control.

If you are worried that he might not pull through, WHY haven't you taken him to a vet yet???

Ok, I'm done. I likely shouldn't even post this because it is confrontational, but I will anyway. You seem like you are very blase about this situation.

froggsong · #9 (**permalink**) 07-26-2008, 03:00 PM

Jeez... I'm sorry I was such an a**hole. I'd go ahead and remove the post, but I'm sure you are probably subscribed to your own thread and will read it in email anyway. I do want to apologize, I'm really sorry I went off on you like that. In the future, perhaps you could have a less cavalier attitude about your pet's health though.

toah · #10 (**permalink**) 07-28-2008, 02:14 PM

Cavalier attitude?!!...THANKS...I've very conserned about his health..i cried when i got back on holiday beasue of this little slimey dude...I just went out and bought him a new tank yesterday to see if that would make him more comfortable...why would you even go off on someone like that over the net?..that was rude...