[Babidi]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I know the grasses in front of my apartment are constantly treated with pesticides and other chemicals, though. The truck comes here about every week or two and the little signs are always in the grass to warn people, so I'm a little wary of it all. I've been trying to find some local bait shops for a long time now, to no avail. I'd be willing to take a risk and try the wild earthworms, but I've had my two for about eight years now and I really don't want to lose either of them. I've grown pretty attached to the little guys and all.

I used to feed my newts pellets when I first started keeping them, but I never had any luck with them. The newts that ate them almost always developed bloat shortly after, and I was told that Reptomin pellets tend to inflate inside the newt's digestive tract and plug them up until they died. That sounds really unreasonable, but ever since I stopped feeding pellets, my newts have lasted considerably longer too.

I think I'll pick up some crickets next time I hit the pet store. How do you guys usually keep yours? How do you keep them from escaping while in captivity? And when you say 'pinch the head', do you literally mean pinch the head to kill it just before feeding? I don't have much experience in keeping them at any point recently. Are newts fully capable of digesting them without any need for shedding like mealworms do? Besides gut/calcium loading, are there any other preparations that should be made for cricket feeding?