C. Orientalis won't eat

[alove]

I have recently gained four C. Orientalis. They are a mix of juveniles and adults. This is my second day with them, and they are not eating. I am feeding them bloodworms, the same food they have been raised on. But they seem to show no interest. Please help.

[alove]

Just got some of them to eat a little bit, but had to hand feed them. Since they are responding to the movement, does anyone have any appropriate options for live food? Also, any other advice would be good. They are still not eating consistently.

[Heather Jewett]

That's great you got them to eat! I would not be too concerned at this point if their appetites are poor - just give them some time to settle in without pestering them too much.

My orientalis love chopped earthworm, live black worm, frozen blood worm, and spikes (fly maggots). They will eat these if placed in the water, or even hand fed to them on the end of a toothpick (in my experience, this is not a shy species and will soon learn that you mean food!).

You may have already have read through this but here is their care sheet: Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

Keep them cool with tons of plants in the tank and I am sure they will do well for you.

[rick]

Heather has good advice for you. Just relax they need to settle in could take 2-4 weeks in my experience to get them to truly settle in. I prefer to feed chopped earthworm. If they are new to worms I would suggest spiking them on toothpicks. That has always enticed my picky eaters to eat. Not sure why but it usually works. When they are truly hungry they will eat....They are not going to starving skipping meals for a few weeks....

[alove]

Thank you guys for the advice. I've been feeding them on bamboo skewers (essentially long toothpicks). All of them are feeding this way but one. The one that is not feeding this way seems to be scared of the skewer, and spends most of his time underwater. I got some glass shrimp for the tank, but I can't yet tell if he's eating them. By the way, how nutritious are those?

[Heather Jewett]

Since the fearful individual is staying mostly in the water, try placing some bit of chopped earthworm in there for a few hours (the earthworm bit will sink to the bottom). I think once it overcomes its shyness you could train it to hand feed, but for now I would attempt as non intrusive method as possible.
I do not know the nutritional quality of shrimp, sorry!
Heather