Question: Why has my newt stopped eating?

Hello,

I have a newt (not sure if it's a smooth or palmate newt), which my son caught in the Irwell river a year ago. It has been living quite happily in a tank with a few inches of water and some rocks to provide dry land. It spends an equal amount of time on the rocks and in the water.

I hand-feed it bloodworms, as it ignores anything left in the water or on the rocks. I have irradiated frozen bloodworms, which I thaw well, and then pick up with a cocktail stick. If I wave these in front of his/her mouth, they get eaten with gusto.

This has been the set up for a year now, but over the last week to ten days, the newt has been refusing food. No amount of coaxing will make any difference, if it doesn't want the bloodworms, it won't eat them. As a result, it's thinner than it was.

Anyone any ideas what I should do? It has always been a good eater until now. Apart from looking thinner, it doesn't show any sign of illness.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Try earthworms, my newts that were fed mainly on bloodworms went mad over them, they are also much more nutritious. If it is getting very thin, give it a waxworm or 2 to bulk it up a little.

Hello,

Thanks for the advice. Sorry it has taken a few days to get back, but I'm glad to say that after not eating for about three weeks, Isaac (corny name I know, but it amused the children) went for the bit of worm with eagerness. I made a mistake at first, and didn't chop the worm finely enough (ugh!), but when it pulled the bit out and cut it up some more, Isaac swallowed it happily.

Thanks again

One of my California Newts was getting thin and being less active for a while. I didn't have any worms handy, but giving him a few small slugs got his energy and belly back! That one just prefers terrestrial eating - even when feeding blackworms now, I have to drain out all of the water and set him in the tub with the worms. If there's too much water in the container, he barely looks at the food.

You're lucky! My lazy newt won't eat a thing unless I hand-feed it! I have to spear the food on the end of a cocktail stick, then push it under its nose. If it's feeling in a good mood, it will open its mouth and eat the food. If I just put the food in the tank (on the rock or in the water), it ignores it, and I end up with decaying food and a hungry newt.

How this guy ever survived in the wild is completely beyond me!