Good Newt Food..

I have a three Japanese firebelly newts that I just bought, and have been thinking of different ways of feeding the little buggers. I currently house them in a 20 gallon tank with some Goldfish(they both like cool temps) and at first they didn't eat. I tried the pellet food that the petstore told me to use, and of course, they didn't eat it. I then bought some small wax worms and they couldn't stop eating those things. In fact I had to pull the leftovers out of the tank because they were gorging themsleves on them, and my newts aren't that big yet, so I can tell you that they love wax worms.

Anyhow, I was kinda looking for food that can live in the water with them so that I don't have to feed them with tweezers manually(which is a pain at times). I understand that they will eat small shrimp, but that it isn't a good food for them to have for whatever reason. What do you guys think about Misquito lavae? I understand that they like them?

P.S. the petstore that I bought them from had them housed in the same aquarium with paddle tails!! I told the store owner that the paddle tails would eat the firebellies, but he just responded that they seem to be doing fine. I went back a few days later and all of them seemed to be gone. I don't know what happened to them. Maybe someone bought them all, or they all killed each other? Houseing a paddle tail with anything, including other paddle tails, is flat dangerous!

(Message edited by hothsnake on March 20, 2005)

You might want to reconsider whether or not you really have Japanese firebellies. JFB are very rare in pet stores these days. See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/firebelly.shtml

Regarding foods, see:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml

I'd suggest frozen bloodworms and chopped earthworms as good readily-available foods that are lower in fat than the waxworms. Mosquito larvae are great, but have the risk of getting mosquitoes in your house. What kind of small shrimp are you referring to? Most shrimp are just fine, although there is some controversy about the salt content in brine shrimp.

It's too bad the shop didn't heed your warning about housing the FBN with paddletails. Sad, but not uncommon.

Yeah, I've been trying to determine that myself. It's hard to tell them apart really. Sometimes they look like a sub species of C. Pyrrhogaster and at times they look a lot like C. Orientalis. I really can't tell by looking at pictures or by comparing tails. My newts don't have short blunt tails, nor do they have pointy tails either. They're sort of in between. Anyhow, the petstore that I got them from had a label on the aquarium that said C. Pyrrhogaster, which is why I've called them Japanese.

Ok, that link was helpful. Thanks! I definately have C. Orientalis because they are smooth skinned without the swollen glands or the protruding spine, and their tails aren't sharp. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing because I understand that Chinese firebellies are more sensitive and less hardy. Which species is more aquatic? I assume Orientalis because of the smoother skin. Mine can pretty much stay at the bottom of the tank if they choose, but sometimes they bask on a plant at the top.