Fire Bellied Newt Tadpoles

Hello,

I am the caregiver of five, happy-go-lucky, Fire Bellied Newts. I purchased four of these in the fall of last year, and was told that three among these were females. One male was also part of this lovely unit.

It seems as though these newts have been busy! I found three tadpoles in their tank this morning, and was quite surprised. These newts have managed to pull a trick. I was not aware that they were breeding, although I had my suspicions. These lovely pets, beautiful though they are, forgot to look at our schedule;
I discovered them while in the process of leaving for a week-long trip. I have a friend coming to the house in the meantime, who will check on them.

The problem remains, though: I have no idea how to care for tadpoles. Will the parents eat their children? It looks as though they are hiding under the rocks for safety. They also seem to be swimming a little (floating, perhaps). I offer my adult newts live black worms on a regular basis, but they must be too large. Any suggestions on what I can do? I suppose they should be separated from the larger newts and their waterline lowered; I do not know if they have gills.

Please respond with any suggestions that may help me care for the tadpoles. I am in a dilemma due to this unexpected turn if events, and could really use your savvy.

My sincere thanks to anyone who responds with ideas.

Your best bet right now is to leave them in the tank with the adults. A well established tank is full of microscopic foods, and this will sustain them for their first month or so.

There is a small chance that some of them could be eaten by the adults, but in my experience, FBN aren't very efficient at eating them. You can help their chances by adding extra rocks/hides in the tank.

After vacation, you'll need to rustle up some food, such as live blackworms, and you may want to remove them to a separate tank at that time.

If you haven't found this already:
Caudata Culture Articles - Raising Newts and Salamanders from Eggs