Just a couple of questions for a new owner...

[Bane]

I tried searching the forum's threads for this information and didn't quite seem to find what I was looking for....

What is the best time/place to feed your Firebelly Newts?

I had two that were gifted to me by my sister, and unfortunately Lok climbed out of the back of the lid (I had forgotten to put the plastic back down to block him in) and dried up behind my desk, where the tank is located. Unfortunately, my tank is small and horribly decorated as a highly temporary setup. a 2.5 gallon with gravel all along the bottom, with one end "humped up" to provide "land" for Nessie. I have a few silk plants in there for her privacy (I'm only guessing female by roundness of body, and her cloaca seemed much less noticeable than Lok's) plus an airstone in her water to keep it from getting stale.

I'm feeding her freeze dried bloodworms, and the newt pellets. I'm hoping to buy some frozen foods for her soon. But I didn't know if they like to eat in the morning, when the lights go on, or at night, when they go off? and whether I should feed her on "land" or in the water?

Thanks in advance for your help, I'm trying to make the best out of an unexpected situation.

[Jennewt]

Do you know for certain that the newt is eating anything (i.e., seen it eat)? Is the newt spending its time on land or in the water? You need to feed it where it is. Feeding it in the water will be easier, but it has to be in the water to eat there.

For firebellies, I don't think time of day matters much.

[dipsydoodle]

I feed my newts between 4-7pm purely because thats when I have the most time. I have 2, the land loving one will only be hand fed but the one in the water will be hand fed and eat out of a bowl.To make sure the newt is eating, either hand feed it or try putting the foor in a bowl so you can see what is gone. It also makes tidying up much easier.

As far as I am aware freeze dried blood worms aren't nutritous at all. I used frozen blood worm (defrosted) and frozen brine shrimp (defrosted) to tempt mine to eat.

[achiinto]

I am guessing that the water quality might not be ideal. I have left lid opened before, but my fire belly newts never attempted escape, but only when the water quality is poor. I am not suggesting anyone to open a path for your newt to escape. However, I think that the water quality can probably be enhanced to improve the newt health.

By using a 2.5 gallon with pile of gravels for land area, I will guess that the water volume is overall low for the newts. If this is a new setup, the water cycle will be difficult to establish. I would suggest using a float platform as land and increase the water volume.

You may try some frozen bloodworm, instead of the dried. This should be healthier food. Ideally, chopped earthworm is best, but with only a single fire belly, that will be kind of a waste of the exceeded food. You may consider freezing the exceeded earthworm for future use.

[vistajpdf]

I don't think the time of day really matters as I've seen mine eat whenever I've fed them. However, it was weeks before they ate for the first time, likely due to stress. I do think they prefer live food. I've not heard of many newts taking the pellets readily.

I used to use the sloped gravel for my land, too, but was cautioned here that it can create pockets of bacteria, so I've switched to turtle docks which have worked great.

Check out the classifieds here - you can get worms shipped to you without breaking you financially.

Good luck,
Dana