Questions about Chinese firebellies

Is it unhealthy for chinese firebelly newts to eat their skin after shedding?

yes healthy it is.

Almost all caudates (and most amphibs, for that matter) will eat their shed. No point in wasting the calories in it!

Heya, I'll be moving this to the help section at the end of the week.

It's definitely healthy for salamanders to consume their own skin.

ok thank you very much
and I have another question
My firebelly toad eats the wax worms I give him
But my 2 firebelly newts dont eat the wax worms
nor do they eat they're newt pellets
mainly because i have 5 feeder fish in the tank,
but i use to have 12 feed fish last thursday
so i hope the newts are happily eating the fish
but is there any methods of feeding newts pellets?
or any other type of food they should be eating?

Chris
Most newts will not eat pelleted food at all.
Live -frozen bloodworm and
Chopped earthworm
are good staples for a newts diet
Check out the feeding articles on http://www.caudata.org/cc/
for a list of suitable foods to use.

ok, but my fish in the tank that i have right now, wont they attemp to eat the blood worms or whatever i feed the newts, becuase my newts are underwater 90% of the time, so they dont really look up at the surface for food all the time.

Yes, the fish will eat the food. Either you have to feed enough for all of them, or else remove the fish. If you give the newts chopped earthworm, the pieces are usually too big for the fish to eat.

Also, what temperature is your tank? To make the fish happy, it may be too warm for the newts.

yes it was a little warm at 79F when i bought my toad,he didnt appreicate the temp, so when i got the newts i read they like cooler temps so i dropped it to about 72F.

and when i know more about my newts, what is a safe temp to breed them at?

For breeding, newts are going to need temps in winter to be colder than 72F. They can live just fine at temps down to 40F, although it's not necessary to get them THAT cold for them to breed.

Yea haha thats right they should be nice and warm most of the time, but is it true they prefer cooler temps than hotter?

and another question, to get 2 newts to breed, does the temp have to be about 55F, tell me if im wrong.

I do not agree that they need it "nice and warm most of the time". They do just great if kept cool year round, and colder in winter. C. orientalis can endure summer heat if they are acclimated gradually, but I don't know that it does them any good. If they are 55F in winter, and well-fed, they are likely to breed (no guarantees though). I believe in keeping newts' light cycle synchronized with the outdoors (fewer hours of light in winter)... but I don't know for a fact that this has any effect.

Hi Chris,

I haven't heard of people successfully keeping Chinese firebellies (Cynops orientalis) on a feeder fish diet (though I have no evidence that to suggest it's unwise).

Be aware that the presence of fish in a newt tank, depending on the size of the tank and the number and kind of fish, could be a stress factor, especially if you notice your newts seem reluctant to enter the water. But you did say they're in the water most of the time. Also, if it's not a well-cycled tank with adequate filtration, the fish excrement and uneaten fish food could also cause water quality to wane faster than if there were just newts in there And feeder fish are bunched together for long periods of time before you actually buy them, so they could carry diseases and parasites that are easily passed from one fish to another in those unnatural conditions.

As Morg said, firebelly newts will generally do fine on live or frozen fortified bloodworm, and chopped earthworm (for those people who are into chopping up live worms ). If your newts turn their noses at the cheapest frozen bloodworm, which is generally low quality, try the high quality frozen kind. Live bloodworm is great, but there again you run a risk of introducing something...

My Chinese firebellies, when they're on land, will sometimes turn down larger wax worms, giving the impression they're uninterested, but will then sometimes eat smaller ones placed in front of them. It sometimes takes patience and persistence (and you shouldn't distract a skittish newt by hovering over it all the time). If they don't eat one day, try again the next and you might get different results!

If your mostly aquatic animals are not eating, you could set up a small container just for feedings. Add one newt and a few bite-size crickets in there, and wait a few hours. Then count the number of crickets left to see if this method is effective. Don't add so many crickets that your animal is overwhelmed, and put some moist moss in there and maybe a tiny shelter too to relieve stress. In an open space with oversized crickets wandering all over the place, the newt will think only about escaping, not eating. Many newts need to be relaxed to eat.

Are you keeping the toad separately?

Hello Tim, Chris.

It is known in Malaysia that Pachytriton (Paddletail newts) are being fed small feeder fish or guppies meant for Arowanas. The Chinese there call the Paddle Tails "Wá-Wá Yùe" or Wah wah fish because of the sound it makes when you pick it up.

I cannot see myself feeding Chinese firebellies guppies though.

Yes mine dont eat very much feeder fish, but they do occasanaly like to eat them so i keep about 3 in there for just show, and sometimes to for my newts to eat them
but the newts eat more frozen blood worms and wax worms than the feeder fish.

and i tryed that seperate container for feeding idea, it works great! but know i just have to try with small crickets, how old should they be? i heard about 2 weeks.

Two week crickets can vary greatly in size depending upon the husbandry used by the breeder. Feed them crickets no longer than the newt's head is wide.

John, I meant to ask you whatis that in your avatar? is that a drawing of a newt under a mushroom? Everytime I see that i go Ohh cute!
Regards,
Terry

Terry

That's a painting of an Ambystoma jeffersonianum. I don't remember what species the mushroom is. I painted it way back in 1992 or 93. I'm currently working on an Aneides Aeneus. When it's finished, I'll post some pictures of that since it is at least partially inspired by some of Mike G.'s pictures.

Wednesday has been decreed the end of the week by me.

Totally. *nod*