Introductions

Looks like a lizard? Acts like a lizard? Tastes like chicken?
Well they're not lizards, and only sometimes chicken. Sir Isaac Newt is an Oregon Newt. His back is brown and his belly and underside are orange. He measures in at 5.5 inches from head to tail and is very pleasant. Almost like slow-motion. I saw on a show that when threatened, Oregon newts do push ups to look bigger. If that doesn't work, he will stand on his hind legs and pulse his throat. Makes him look like a 4 inch tall orange bully.

Fig Newt is not fruit and cake, he's a Japanese Firebellied Newt. He is darker brown than his buddy Isaac and his belly and underside are bright red with black spots. Kind of like a firebellied toad belly. He's smaller than Isaac, measuring in at 5 inches. His head is also shaped like a snake's while Isaac's is rounded. I don't know what he does for defense yet because he seems to like smiling all the time. In fact, if you want a pet that always looks pretty happy and relaxed, the newt is a good choice. If you are not convinced yet, let me share these heart-warming stories.

• Hey brother, slip me some skin!
  I thought he was dying of a black spotted fungus disease...if there is such a thing. After several days of drying out on a leaf in the sun (flourescent bulb, but he doesn't care), Isaac finally ventured into the water. As he soaked and the fizzy looking air bubbles released from his skin, I could see his cloudy eyes and his black bumped skin. It seemed shreds of "fungus" were trailing from his eyelids. Suddenly, he made a face that I will never forget. He closed his eyes like a constipated child, opened his mouth as wide as he could stretch it, and pushed his head forward. He did this several times before I figured out he was not doing the dance of the dying newt. As the toads watched on and jumped him as if he were a drowning cricket, Isaac pushed alongside a rock, fully underwater, and began to slip from his skin! It was like he was slipping from an extra tight, extra thick body stocking. When it got to his shoulders, he put his little arms next to his sides and wriggled until he gout an arm out. Then he turned his head around, grabbed the little clear silhouette arm that was once his skin, and sucked it into his mouth! He was swallowing his own skin!! Fifteen minutes pass by, and I am still fascinated and staring at this spectacle. When he finally finishes, he is as bright and healthy as the day I got him. Then, he begins begging for food. Fig has not been as public with his stripping, but he's so modest, I don't think I'll ever catch him in the act.

• Dead flies, Frozen worms, & Foodsticks
  Mmmm mmmm good. After slipping into something more comfortable, it is time for some food. Actually, feeding every couple of days works best. When my newts come down into the water, I know they are foraging for food. How do I know? Because that is when they eat something when I put it in the water. Newts can get bored of the same food over and over, so I have a great mixture of foods. They will eat dried flies with vitamin coating, freeze dried blood worms, reptile and carnivorous fish food sticks, and freeze dried river shrimp. This list does not exhaust all possibilities, but I haven't had luck with live food and these guys. Usually, Isaac and Fig find the cricket annoying as it walks over their heads. So, the newts just close their eyes. Plus, crickets are just too darn fast. But that's alright with me because crickets are annoying enough to supply for the toads. After the food stick has floated in the water a while, the newts will take it whole like a pill. They come to the surface to eat, so just let the food float. In this case, Isaac is shy and Fig actually likes for me to poke his food around with a stick. Sometimes, he will even eat right off the end of a chopstick. To see this phenomenon, wet the end of your chopstick, and dip it in the can of food (preferably dried blood worms or flies)- the food will stick to the end. Then hold the chopstick over the water and let it slightly dip on the water. SNAP! Like a turtle, a hungry newt will snap the food off the end of the stick. Isaac would rather find his own food, but that is his choice.

• There's no place like home...
  How do you keep a newt happy? Give it some water some land and roommates! Build a terrarium without spending hundreds of dollars. I'll tell you the secrets the pet stores don't want you to know.