Will/can newts over-eat?

So my adults (N.V V.) love frozen bloodworms, and its the easiest to find and feed so that is their staple, most of them will also accept the pellets. Today i bought some nightcrawlers or "canadian worms" is what the package says. I cut two big ones int 6 peices each thinking each newt could have 2 fat peices. They are pretty "tame" as far as feeding as all of them will quickly accept anything you wriggle in their face with forceps. Usually i just dump the food in but i have 2 newts that are smaller and obviously get beat out for food. They are younger than the others but also not fat and chunky like the "old guys" so I offered each newt a peice of earthworm with the forceps. Every newt took one. The smallest one was fighting with his and before he could get it down another newt came and grabbed it right out of his mouth! It was a pretty small peice too but i guess still too big for him. ? All the big guys had 2 big peices each, i think 2 of them had 3!!! I can see that their stomachs look very fat and full! The second to smallest did have a peice as well. Afterwards i offered some bloodworms to the smallest guy on forceps to make sure he was getting some, and the others were still coming around gobbling up the bloodworms, one fattie even did a crocodile death roll aftwr grabbing a mouthful that i was still holding with the forceps. It was a little comical to see the little lady spinning round like a giant crocodile does to its prey!! Anyways, I once had a goldfish as a kid that ate until its stomach exploded! I hope newts wont/dont do that? Would they stop eating when they are full?? They usually get fed 2 or 3 times a week, but not such a big meal as this. I hope i didnt overfeed them. And if i am going to feed earthworms how often should i be feeding? I know its a much bigger meal than bloodworms. Thanks yall!

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I'm experiencing a very similar situation, but no 'death rolls'-! 3 Italian Newts (2 larger fat females & little skinny runt guy). I can feed by hand and they all eat or sink some blood worms in several different places... the big ones seem to 'bullie' the little one. He'll grab a mouthful, get pushed out of the way and maybe get a couple more. But not as much as the others. I'm headed to the LFS to get a 'fry divider' to separate him for a bit...see if I can fatten him up...

I've never experienced newts really over-eating, in spite of the fact they really can eat a lot.
The main problem when I feed a group is you have to give enough to have the most shy individual well fed. In the meantime, the most agressive are very very well fed, of course.

Some newts can get "obese", especially Ambystoma species like tiger salamanders, if you feed them too much food items like wax worms and baby mice, but I've never heard of a case of over-eating.

Newts that eat too much or eat something way too big will vomit it back out. I've seen mine do it. They are pretty stupid, though, so will try to eat the vomit again immediately

slowfoot said:

will try to eat the vomit again

Click to expand...

I saw my cousin doing that once...

Both my groups of H. orientalis and H. cyanurus have a couple individuals who are a little more aggressive and just seem to have a better eye or nose for food. So when I just drop in bloodworms or blackworms, those guys will always get much more of it. Over time they'll fatten up while the others thin down. To control how much each individual gets, I think earthworms fed by forceps is the best way. It's a pain to feed enough bloodworms or blackworms by forceps individually, especially under water. It takes a long time to feed them enough because the worms are small, and usually some will fall away under water and the fatter ones will get those anyways. Earthworms, or cut up pieces of earthworms are much easier, you can feed a whole meal in just one or 2 worms. So I think you've got the right idea. I feed my newts blackworms and bloodworms right now as staples, but I try to feed the less aggressive eaters a big earthworm at least once every week to even up how much each individual gets.

I have seen my axolotls overeat, and they just regurgitate anything they can't hold in, which then gets eaten by its tank mates.