I got 4 fire-bellied newts yesterday. I got one about a month ago and it died. It had a broken leg when I got it. I've been looking for a place that has newts ever since, and when I found them last night for $2.99 a piece, I decided to get 4. Three are pretty small, and one is almost double the size of the rest. I wonder if I got three chinese fire-belly newts and one Japanese. I guess only time will tell. The large one was biting the others so I had to seperate them. Is this type of aggression typical of this species, because I thought they liked to live in communities? Here are a few pics.

This is the big one
http://www.reptiforum.com/gallery/da...ewtbig-med.jpg
http://www.reptiforum.com/gallery/sh...cat=500&page=1
http://www.reptiforum.com/gallery/da...2newtt-med.jpg
http://www.reptiforum.com/gallery/da...newttt-med.jpg
These are the little ones
http://www.reptiforum.com/gallery/da...2newty-med.jpg
http://www.reptiforum.com/gallery/da...2newwt-med.jpg
http://www.reptiforum.com/gallery/da...ewtlil-med.jpg

Awww, they are really pretty. I had 2 (1 crested and 1 peninsula) but they got out of their tank and I never found them. 8( I miss them, specially Dragon (the crested). Congratulations! 8)

How big is the bigger one? Hard to tell, but the color and pattern on the belly, and the texture of the newt's skin varies a little bit between the two species. Not to mention japanese get bigger.

Unfortunately, yeah, the bigger one is most likely seeing the smaller ones as possible food. Newts aren't the brightest of creatures after all.

What's their tank like? Unfortunately, I have yet to see a newt in a pet store that's under the proper conditions. You should have both land and water, and teh water temp should be about 60 degrees. Anything over 70 is a bit warm for them, and anything over 74 will most likely kill them with fungal infections. You dechlorinate the water, right? What are you feeding them? There's a wider variety of food you can offer them than most people think. Try mixing pinhead crix, brine shrimp, daphnia, bloodworms, and fruitflies.

__________________
+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Holy sh!t. I'm worried now. The aquarium that I set up for the newts I have no heater, because the room temp. is barely cool enough, the water is at around 70 degrees. I'll have to post a pic of the setups when I get home. I did my research before creating it, so I'm confident with that one. The tank that I moved the larger newt into is difficult to keep the temp down. I turned the heater off, but the temp. on my thermometer says 85 F. This is what I'm concerned about. Other than the temp, it is a 20 gal. 3/4 the way full, but with plenty of bamboo and various water plants to help him climb up to the cork, many pieces of cork that I have floating on top of the water. Is there any way you would recommend for cooling the aquarium? Thanks for the help.

How do you provide lighting for the newts without the lights heating the water to 80 degrees? I can't keep the temp. down I removed the heaters, but the water temp. is still way too high. I don't want to make them sick, any suggestions?

Yeah, you may as well ditch the heaters and the lights, the newts don't need them. As long as there is some light in the room, so they're not in constant darkness, they'll be fine. Just try and maintain that 12 hour photoperiod. A fluorescent light, placed a distance from the tank, will allso provide light with minimal heat.

Keeping the tank cooler is always harder than keeping it warm. A scren lid will help. When you change the water, adding water that's already 55-60 degrees will help. Putting dechlorinated ice cubes in the water, or on top of the screen, will also help. These newts are from cold mountain streams, so they don't do too well in the tropical setups pet stores give them.

__________________
+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

I'm kinda overwhelmed with trying to keep my tank cool. I didn't know that I needed cool water before I got my newts, now I have four. I knew their water didn't need to be warm, but I didn't foresee the problems involved in trying to keep it cool. Why is this species so commonly sold in such a warm place as Florida. My air conditioner doesn't even get my house cool enough for them to live.

The ice cubes melt really fast and I don't see this as an efficient way to keep the temps. cool. The temperature would be fluctuating throughout the day in the aquarium because I can't be home constantly monitoring the temps. and adding ice cubes.

At this point, I feel like my newts would be better off in my fridge.

Well, if you can manage to keep the temps under 72 at least, that should be ok. They're commonly sold because people will buy them, and that means $$ for the pet store. I'm sure if some pet stores actually RESEARCHED how to care for them, they may decide not to sell them. Still there are others that would sell them regardless. Do you have a basement? Heat rises.

__________________
+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

LOL. Nope, no basements in Florida silly. Can't dig more than 5 ft. before your in the Atlantic. I think I found a solution though. The ice melted too fast, but a frozen water bottle covered with Splagnm moss is working nicely. The water temp on the side opposite of the water bottle is still at around 68 degrees, but the newts really seem to like the cool spot. All three are laying on the bottle itself. It's like the opposite of a heat rock. I'm guessing the ice will last about 6-8 hours. I'll let you know how it goes.