Noto Metamorphs Not Eating?

[Jesse]

So, I'm trying to raise my efts aquatically, but they keep trying to climb out and aren't eating... I'm getting nervous. There is lots of mosquito larva and live bloodworms for them to chow on but they aren't... I need to know if I'm doing anything wrong or if I should just raise them terrestrially... A picture of the setup is attached. Along with one of the metamorphs climbing. Cute little face! And a picture of one who is either morphing late, or may be staying aquatic. The others started showing signs of morphing as early as 2 weeks ago and this one shows none of them. His gills aren't curling, but I believe he has shed. I'm not sure on that though. His colors are getting darker too like and adult. I'm not getting my hopes too high though for him staying neotenic.

[Perry]

If you want to try maintaining them aquatically I would recommend lowering the water level and adding more plants. It is not unusual for recent metamorphs to go a few days without eating but if they don't take to staying aquatic definitely set them up terrestrially. Flightless fruit flies, white worms and springtails are all great for tiny morphs. Spring tails will usually show up by themselves in a stable terrestrial set up or you could seed your tank with leaves and logs from outside. Damp logs or pieces of wood (especially bark) will have tons of tiny things for your morphs to eat and can buy you time while you wait for cultures to start producing.

Good luck with them, they are looking good!

[Jesse]

Thanks for the suggestions. How deep would you suggest the water be?

[Perry]

Maybe 1/2-1" deep. If they keep climbing the sides after a week switch them over to a terrestrial set up. It's also possible that some might take to being aquatic and others won't. This has been the case with my Lissotriton v. ampelensis.

[Jesse]

Thanks for your help! I lowered the water level. I'll try your suggestions.

[Otterwoman]

Are these noto. viridescens? Because if so you are experiencing what many keepers before you have experienced: the absolute difficulty of raising noto v. morphs in captivity.
Best of luck.

[Jesse]

Yes. They are N. v. v. I am trying to raise. The larva were quite a pain... I read that the efts can be raised aquatically for a higher survival rate do I'm trying it. I hope they survive. There were so many more but only a few are left now, 8, but one of them seems to be on the verge of dying.

[Otterwoman]

I"m sorry about that. It's hard to bear, but I still wish you the best. I never heard about raising them aquatically.

[Erin]

It sounds like you might have to move them to a terrestrial set-up. If so, here's what works best for me:

Give them some 'natural' soil - including bugs and things - with a few hides you know they will use and you can easily lift. I like bark pieces. Feed them by hand at first until you know they are eating. The way I do this is by lifting the hides and placing a small food item in front of each eft, then carefully replacing the hide again. You can check again a few minutes later and they will often be eating. I use very tiny earthworms cut into tiny pieces. You might need to use a toothpick to place the food pieces. I put them literally right in front of each efts' mouth. You might have to do this for a few weeks until they are willing to actually forage for food.

The problem with early eft death seems to be two things: (1) the morphs go into hiding and just... sit there and starve to death. So just dumping food in that they never see will not work. (2) They are really not good at feeding terrestrially, so anything that has any opportunity to get away will not get eaten.

I've found that the absolute best eft food (if you can find or buy them) are termites. They love them! They will often eat them before I can even put the hide back. I also keep my efts slightly warmer than the larvae, it seems to make them more active. But that could just be because I'm working with a Southern subspecies.

Good luck!

[Jennewt]

One other factor in eft survival: size at metamorphosis. It's important to pack as much live food into them as possible during the larval period. Large morphs have a much better chance of surviving (and are more likely to stay aquatic if one is trying to do it that way). For me, providing a constant supply of live blackworms and a setup with plants and hides is the best way to accomplish this.

Personally, I wouldn't even try to raise Noto morphs aquatically. I know it has been done, but it doesn't always work. I've had best success with a terrestrial setup like Erin describes and feeding them pinheads.

Good luck!

[Jesse]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I hope I can get some to adulthood. If they don't adapt to being aquatic soon, I'll transfer them to a terrestrial setup.