Chinese Fire-bellied Newt
Acquired: Pet store
Gender: N/A
Didn't have the best experience with fire bellies
Fire bellies were very cute, and active moving about in the water of our paludarium. They do have a downfall though. It is VERY difficult to get them to eat properly (this is my experience, and it seemed odd as I've seen countless fire bellied newts that were perfectly good eaters). We could not tell if they were ever eating.
The newts seemed to do well for a while, until one of them decided to escape, we found him the next morning dried out on the floor of the bathroom. It was very traumatizing, and we felt awful. The other two lived on for quite some time after that though. They were very interesting to watch, but I don't think they are very good for a beginner amphibian owner. I don't wouldn't recommend them unless you really know what you're doing.
The newts were very similar to fish in the sense that they responded very well to good water conditions. They also seem to respond very well to a steady humidity level and good air circulation.
We found that feeding them frozen bloodworms worked the best as they did seem to eat them. There are a lot of commercial newt pellets and amphibian foods that we did not have any luck with whatsoever.
