Overweight newts

Hello all, I feed my newts a cube of frozen bloodworms every other day. Three of the four seem to be gaining weight - I don't want to put them at risk of heart disease, but I also don't want the skinny one to be deprived How much should they be fed and how often....they're eastern newts and fairly small.

Use forceps to feed the skinny one, or put food for the fatter ones at one end of the tank, and then feed the skinny one at the other end. Give him worms to help him gain weight quicker. You could also leave blackworms in the tank so that he can hunt them later rather than compete with his stronger tank mates over non moving food.
Chris

Also, I've noticed that some eastern newts have distinct dietary preferences. This one may simply not like bloodworms. I completely agree with Chris's suggestion to try hand-feeding this one. Chopped earthworm is the best "growth food" I've ever seen for newts.

I can attest to hand feeding it earthworms. I have 2 yellow spotteds and they've literally doubled in size and are very fat in a year just feeding them earthworms. I think mine actually need to go on a diet!

the skinny one may be suffering from bullying by the others. this often happens with a spare male whom the others push through to get the food but will also happen to males since most females are more aggressive eaters. after a while of not getting as much or the added stress of more forceful cagemates they will start to noticeably loose weight (if they werent thin to start with) at this point their bacteria in the gut start to grow in unnatural numbers and they dont feel well enough to eat -even if they could. it is best to catch it before they get to this stage otherwise you will have an animal that wont eat even if offered something it normally loves -force feeding is sometimes the solution at that stage but it is not easy and if you dont know what you are doing you can harm the animal (not all sals lower jaws open DOWN). if it will eat fine in the cage with the other ones on the other side then that is a good choice but if its still afraid it may be best to take the OTHERS out of the cage and place them in a temp facility each time you feed. this will allow the lone newt the opportunity to feed at its own pace and in familiar surroundings. once it has had its fill re introduce back the others to 'clean up'.

Thanks you all! I might try putting her in a little bowl while she eats. I watched while they ate this time and it seems like she just doesn't eat as fast. They don't really look like they're bullying each other...I also noticed yesterday that somebody in the aquarium laid eggs! One of the newts has a raised tail fin thingy and I imagine that he is the father? I wonder if the weird feeding behaviors had to do with a breeding issue? Anyhow, thanks for all the info!