This guide will only tell you how to keep one of them newts and it's definitely not the most detailed one. This just touches on the basics and it's an excellent choice for the rest of you impatient newt lovers out there.
PICKING <the newt, not ur nose>
How to pick your little fella and make sure he/ she's healthy.
o eyes should be bright, not misty etc
o pick it up gently and observe its body for any sign of sores, etc
o it should be actively moving and alert
FEEDING
Although some newt owners claim that only feeding ur newt frozen bloodworms aint very healthy, LJ cant find other newt food in S'pore. So if you live around here, you've to settle with it. So far, my dear newt seems quite happy with his worms.
Bloodworms are a cheap source of food and they come in cubes.
Use tweezers and be careful not to hurt your newt. Shake the worm and your newt should be more interested.
Lastly, I've only noticed a strange tendency in my newt. He only feeds in water and when he's on his log, it means that he wants to laze around and is too lazy to eat.
NOTE: If your newt is not eating, don't give up. Keep trying and hopefully in the span of two weeks whereby it would last without food, it will finally agree to down some bloodworms. Newts have also been known to eat their own shedded skin, which actually does hold some nutritional value.
YOUR TANK
A tank is what you should keep your newt in. A glass tank is a better option that a plastic one, since it would yellow with time and not allow you to consume your very own eye candy.
For small newts like the Japanese fire belly, a 1 feet tank should do.
Have about 3-4 inches of water and make sure you have a log or a place where your newt can easily access land. The Japanese fire belly is a semi-aquatic newt.
And by the way, dont use a fish tank light for ur newt. Those are usually too bright and my newt is doing well indirectly beside the window. I keep it close. Direct sunlight is not reccomended since newts tend to like shady areas. So it'll be good if you have some kind of shelter for it.
HANDLING
Sadly, newts do not like the feel of our warm hands. Their skin is very sensitive and it absorbs anything it comes into contact with. Handling is OK, but not too much.
NOTES
o No washing ur tank with soap! Any amount of leftover detergent or soap can easily kill your newt.
o When carrying it, use two hands or you can opt to support its belly with four fingers and put ur thumb on top of it.
o Reccomended items in ur Newt Kit:
+sponge: wipe that dirty tank! now.
+tweezers: to feed ur newt
+bucket: for changing water
o Change water once a week or once every two weeks. It really depends on how many newts you have. The more newts, the more watse they produce and the more frequent you have to clean the tank and change their dirty water.
Rinse everything in the tank once in a month...or two. :P Items, excluding the newt, should be soaked in boiling water to kill germs. Soaking the log in boiling water is not reccomended.
o Dechlorinate the water for ur newt tank by leaving it alone for 24-48 hrs.
o And most importantly, be patient! :D
NEWT WEBBIES
caudate central
bethnewt
so im not sure if this would help newt owners with other species.
