# Need help saving this little guy!!



## vicz24 (Jan 19, 2012)

This morning I found a little Newt in my basement, it looks like a firebelly & the poor guy was almost frozen & is skin & bones. What do I feed the little guy to get some strength back into him, I have no idea what they eat. I tried some frozen bloodworms but wouldn't eat them, so I'm not sure what to do.


----------



## JohnnyAppleSnail (May 30, 2010)

I believe they eat insects and snails,should try to make it a moist home and something to hide under.I believe they hide under some sort of cover most of the day.


----------



## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

They like to eat live worms. You could dig some up in your back yard. If you can only find big ones, just cut it up into smaller pieces, they keep moving after you cut them (yuck). I used to catch newts in the summer when I was a kid and keep them for a couple of months before releasing them.


----------



## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

Hello. so i called the local pet store where they have fire-belly newts, and they said they feed them blood worms. i know they keep them in a half full tank with drift wood placed so they can climb out of the water and on to dry land IE the drift wood. unfortunately that is all i know about them. Cheers


----------



## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

I used to have them before with fish,feed the blood worms u can try frozen ones too, feed him every other day, they dont need to eat every day. U can use a bare bottom or gravel some plants or rocks so he can seat on them


----------



## davefrombc (Apr 21, 2010)

You can feed him small earthworms and other insects. It's not likely it would recognize frozen bloodworms as food since all its ever known is live , moving prey . It needs moisture and places to hide , but cannot be put in water only like aquatic newts from the pet store . It is mainly a terrestrial dweller found in boggy places, preying on the insects,worms and small slugs .








----


----------



## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

Omygoodness, poor little guy. Good thing you found him. Sorry that i'm not much help, just wanted to say good luck to you. Hope you can get him eating.


----------



## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

seems to me at this time of year it should still be in hybernation and may not eat for you at all.


----------



## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

You might check with GreteJ as well...she raises axotls.


----------



## Eros168 (Dec 25, 2011)

Sorry I'm no help, but just curious how it got in your basement?? Thats a weird find that's for sure.


----------



## Flygirl (Jul 23, 2011)

Extremely cute little guy, he is lucky you found him. Hope you have success with him.


----------



## vicz24 (Jan 19, 2012)

I'm sorry to say the little guy didn't make it  he passed yesterday during the night, when I got up yesterday it was too late. He wouldn't eat anything, but he still had energy so I'm not sure what happened poor guy.


----------



## chubar (Jan 30, 2012)

The photo is a little blurry but it looks to be Taricha granulosa (rough-skinned newt), if it has an orange belly then there is no doubt. Two things you really need to know are
1) They are extremely poisonous if ingested
2) Taking it in as a pet is illegal

That said as a salamander it will eat anything small enough to fit in its mouth that moves. Literally anything, so long as it feels like the predator not the prey. It will not eat with you watching, it can smell the CO2 coming from your breath. Put it somewhere warm, with low light, and very humid with some small arthropods. Chances are that it is screwed as they are supposed to be hibernating for another couple of weeks, if you keep it warm you may trick its metabolism.


----------



## chubar (Jan 30, 2012)

Oh damn missed your last post. Not your fault he came out of hibernation early for a reason, he was already starving to death. If you don't want a ticket I would bury the body and remove this thread, doubt the cops are watching or care but it is a crime.


----------



## Flygirl (Jul 23, 2011)

chubar said:


> If you don't want a ticket I would bury the body and remove this thread, doubt the cops are watching or care but it is a crime.


Ay caramba


----------



## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

Shoot, shovel and shut up?  sorry to hear it didn't make it.


----------



## neven (May 15, 2010)

Taking in an animal for rescue is not a crime. Keeping it as a pet is however, i dont think he has to worry, since every intention here was to nurse it back to health. i am also sorry to hear that it didn't make it


----------



## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

Hello. i agree with neven. if you found it in the wild and then took it home that might be a problem. But you found it in your basement, witch is not it's natural environment. and you only had good intentions. kudos to you for trying to help. Cheers


----------



## Sweetpea (Nov 7, 2011)

So sorry that the little guy didn't make it. 

Re. the question of where it came from, it reminded me of something that happened through my sister's workplace. She's an environmental educator working for a municipality, and some kind of tree shipment (Xmas tree of some sort, I think) had arrived from somewhere far south (Mexico?) with a newt or salamander stowed away on one of the trees, and they brought it into where my sister works. Sorry I'm fuzzy re. the details...a while back that I heard about this. Anyway, because it couldn't be sent back across borders, her department was able to get a permit to keep the little guy in captivity.


----------

