fire belly wont swim!!

[lilgem526]

i have 3 fire belly newts... Flunder, Tango, and Splash. but all three has never stepped foot in the water :eek: . i usually mist them with their tank water that i put in a spray bottle. can anyone tell me any reasons why maybe they wont go in the water? thanks for any info :D

[gothicangel69]

How long have you had them for? had the same problem with mine a while back when the temp and humidity went wacko. What's the pH? Do you use amphibian water conditioner? What size tank? Temperature? Is there anything else in the tank? And anything else that you think might be helpful.
I know that most people think that these guys are hardy, but to my experience, they are actually quite delicate(never lost one yet though). They are very sensitive to water parimeters and tankmates, so any info you have would help us out alot!

[lilgem526]

i have a ten gallon tank. i have no clue wut the ph is...there is only fire bellies in there. i got them 5 months ago. they are also not at all active. any help wut be awsome. thanks

[lilgem526]

o and the temp is 68... no i never heard of newt water conditioning. they all eat when possible, so thats a good sign.

[gothicangel69]

you should try to find amphibian water conditionner, it help produce the slim on their skin. Also, you should probably get the pH tested, some pet stores will do it for free if you bring them a sample. Fire bellies hate acidic water, the more basic, the better.
One more thing, what has the weather been like lately? Sometimes, if the temp or humidity has gone wacko that will effect the newts.
What are you feeding them?

[lilgem526]

The weather here goes cold- nice- to hot in one day but i haven't yet seen the temp change. I feed them frozen bloodworms and frozen daphnia.

[lilgem526]

how much does amphibian water conditionner cost.

[gothicangel69]

I have Aquatiza Conditioner from Exo Terra and it costs me like $5.00 for 30mL. So far this has lasted like two months and its not even half empty yet, so i think that thats all you would need. It helped for mine, so it wouldn't hurt to try. I can't see what else would be wrong with them? Some firebellies just don't like going in the water, as long as their eating, they should be ok. Usually they will not let themselves dehydrate, but keep spraying the a couple of times a day, just to be sure.

[lilgem526]

this morning when i turned on their tank light i noticed that splash had a growth on the top his back. its little but noticable. what is it?? it wasn't there yesterday

[gothicangel69]

im not sure, one of my firebellies has a growth on its tail. It looks like a spike, but it doesnt grow any more and doesnt seem to bother him. Just keep an eye on it, it might be nothing. Just make sure that its not betting bigger or limiting its movements

[lilgem526]

two days ago i bought that water conditioner... but they still hate the water. its like they're scared of it. do they still need more time?

[gothicangel69]

i would give them some more time. As long as there eating i wouldn't worry much. Some firebellies just dont like going in the water, they might change their minds later on and decide to go in. Every so often, you could just pick them up and plop them in to see what they do, it shouldn't hurt.

[lilgem526]

i have been doing that ever since i got them. all they do is panic. except tango. i f i put him in he will swim to the bottom and stare at the top for o few seconds and swim the the closest plant thats hlf in water and out.

[lastunicorn86]

they might still be fairly young(they go through an almost totally terrestrial stage early in life but i forget what its called). how bug are they? i have a paddletail, an oregon, and a giant firebelly and they Never leave the water! but they are nearly full size and very active. if your newts are big enough try getting a few feeder guppies or the small feeder goldfish to see if that will tempt them into the water, atleast to eat anyway

[lilgem526]

there are mature. i found out that if there land and air is already moist, they don't need to go in the water. i feed them baby guppies. i have too gupies.(male female) that i breed for food. its quite cheap. only splash will go in the water now. tango will dip his head in once in a while.

[Rocker89b]

it also depends on age, juveniles are terrestrial and adults are more aquatic