Fire Belly Newt Getting Dry Skin...

[comocrayfish5]

one of my FBN's is skinny (i feed him a lot trying to get him fatter) and he is more of the land loving newts and rarely if ever, goes in the water.. soooooo...... he is getting dry skin. and that mixed with his skinniness is kinda grossing me out what do i do?

 

[lloyd]

How old is he. If hes young then expect him to stay on land a bit more. as they age they spend longer periods in water. what and how are you feeding him. im assuming the tank is heaterless. do you know if he's a japanese or chinese fire belly? i have always kept them. at the minute i have four and ive always found there is a runty one of the froup. have you tested your water? Do you use water conditioner?

they will prefer if you swapped the gravel for sand as well

 

[comocrayfish5]

i just got them november 3rd

i am feeding them frozen blood worms by tweezers once the worms de-freeze

tank is kept cold, no heater

chinese FBN

water is fine

water is aged before put in tank

the bigger one goes in the water more

 

[lloyd]

ive never feed mine with tweezers, i just brake a corner of the cube and drop them in. the smell sends them wild. perhaps you should feed them in the water?live micro crickets are interesting to feed to adults.

 

[comocrayfish5]

if the bigger one is in the water than i feed in the water but other wise they are spoiled and get hand fed i am thinking about puttting a wet paper towel on top of the gravel so they get a little moist (and it will be easier clean up for the poo. do you use sand in your tank?

 

[Baccus]

Would it be better for the newts to have moss where the rocks are? Almost every bonsai growing person around grows moss for putting around thier bonsia's and once you have some moss its relatively easy to grow. The benefit of moss (even sphagnam moss or wetted coconut fibre) is that this will be softer on the newts tender skin, and will hold moisture which will help with the newts respiration. Also live moss is a low light plant so you wont need lights on the tank for all hours to keep it growing nicely.

 

[lloyd]

Moss might be a good idea? i used to use sand whan mine where young but mine spend most there time in the water now there quite old. they used to dig in the sand. you do need some where hard and dry so they have the chance to completly dry out....moss is real good idea though

 

[comocrayfish5]

i will think about it. his skin is much better now

 

[lloyd]

I wouldnt worry to much about him