Better late than never, as they say. It's not your fault the store used a false name for her anyway. Had they not you could have found out what she is a long time ago.

Haha, I'd say egg laying classifies her a female in my book If only all pet amphibians would make it that easy to tell. As for making the water area larger, sure, you could try sealing the divider horizontally. They also make small land areas with suction cups attached that just stick to the walls of the tank. Either would work I'm sure.

To keep the water cooler you can set ice cubes on the lid or in the water so they cool the water as they melt. What I usually do when my newts were too hot is keep a water bottle in the freezer and another frozen one in the newt's water. It's not as pretty, but it helps cool the water off. Then you can switch the bottle in the tank with the one in the freezer daily. Throwing some ice cubes in the water now and then can be fun too though. My newts were very curious and would try and eat the cold water you could see coming off the cubes. Just take care not to make the water TOO cold, and make sure temperature changes don't happen too quickly or she could go into shock. They can tolerate pretty low temps, but I'd try and keep it around 60-65ish.

The fluorescent light is definitely better than an incandescent, but it still gives off heat. If you like, you can take it off the tank and rely on a nearby lamp to light the tank. However, if the ice tricks work well enough you can still leave the fluorescent light on the tank.

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Sorry I don't know much at all about newts, but good luck, and i'm sorry to hear the little one is not well!

thanks so much! I am going to do my best with the new set up. Actually, since I have a 20 long now for my leo then I was thinking instead of messing with the newts tank just use the 10 gallon leo tank for her (newt) and then I would have a perfect divided tank for dart frogs one day lol, but I can't do that anytime soon...it would be easier to use the old 10 gal leo tank instead of tearing apart the newt tank, plus then I wouldn't have to find a temporary gome for her until the cahnges were done ya know. first things first though is to fix the 20 long so I can move Sunshine and then move my little newt and do the suction cup thing. I actually have one I used for her once, but it is in the hermit crab tank right now. It isn't very high though so I might just have to think of something else similar to it. Thanks for your help!

ok, so I have had her for about 6 years in this tank..and she has been for the most part good...well now I find more and more on the correct species and I have it mostly wrong even the food!

i am so upset. i found out the food (rosey) I have been feeding causes death! mostly bloating and disease! and crickets are also bloating and cause upsets..so now I am stuck with what foods to feed? I do know she loves the black worms but they are like an hour away (live) and I can't exacty make routine trips there. I was thinking mealworms but I haven't really found info on feeding that. I saw waxworms, but aren't they too fatty? (she really love them though! I read about floating pellets but I never tried those? any help would be welcomed. I am so mad with myself for this ****! anyway, I hope I can make it up to her. I am just glad she is still alive! I only ahve a 10 gallon though, but I can mange 6-8 inches of water with some sort of small land area and lots of plants.

what concerns me the most right ow is her food! I know her set up isn't great, but she has been in it for years and also her food, I can't beleive this!

Most newt keepers feed their newts pellets or frozen foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, krill, daphnia, and others (I know of another frozen shrimp that's better than brine shrimp, but forget the name). I personally like to keep variety in the diet by using all of these foods, plus offering ghost shrimp, crickets, and earthworms on occasion. I also offer pellet food.

I figured the rosey reds were just as a decorative addition to the tank, but small fish can be offered on occasion as a treat. If you go that route I'd use zebra danios or mollies though. Rosey reds (minnows) aren't very nutritious as far as feeder fish are concerned. They're not as bad as goldfish though. Waxworms shouldn't be used as a staple since they're too high in fat, but they make a nice treat for rare occasions.

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ok, I'm going to get those for her then thanks again. i hope she eats this...she is use to live foods.

I was thinking that if I just add water to her set up now it will be 8 inches on the deep and 4 inches on the (dry now) and then I will be able to put that shelf on the "gravel" or possibly I can find something else...so it will be high enough. But I am not sure if it will be better to have the whole 10 gal tank 8 inches deep with a small land area? what do you think?

Does she utilize the land area much now? Newts are almost completely aquatic, so sacrificig land for water shouldn't be too bad for her.

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nope she is usually in the water...when she is on land for too long is when I worry about her like recently =0 she is doing just fine now. I fed her a mealworm today. She is still off atad though...like she misses the food when I hold it in front of her and she take alot longer to take it. I don't know why, but she is acting much better. I was just going to add more water since her species caresheet said that 6-8 inches of water is best...too bad I don't have a longer/bigger tank for her.

I am going to the store with the blood worms and picking up some mollies and danios. Are you sure it is safe for her to eat? I am just making sure. It will also make the tank cooler. I add more water and it is pretty good. I will be sending pics soon. Thanks for your help! Oh and she seems happy she can SWIM now lol!