The Old Switch-a-Roo

I've asked this question before but didnt really get an answer though i sure someone must know; how do I get my juvenile CFB newts to eat frozen blood worms? They are currently six months old and eating fruit flies, maggots, spring tails and earthworms. Their parents eat frozen bloodworms and I'd like the youngsters to eventually do the same. Raising all these bugs isnt really a problem but I'd like them on the no-fuss diet eventually. Especially as I've got friends who have expressed a desire to take some of the little guys when they grow up...Im not really comfortable having anyone leave my care until Im sure they can be easily cared for.

I've heard that you can train them to eat from tweezers (some of my bolder ones already do that) and then swap the live food for dead. As I've got near on 40 youngsters this seems like a daunting task. Also, I bought my adults from a Pets Unlimited which is pretty much the Wal-Mart of animal distribution so it seems incredible to me that the newts they carry were all hand-fed at some point. But I guess its possible they get their newts from a respectable breeder, the type that tweezer-trans efts regulaly. What do I know?

But anyway, does anyone know anything about weening and how old they have to be to try?

Brie said:

I've asked this question before but didnt really get an answer though i sure someone must know; how do I get my juvenile CFB newts to eat frozen blood worms? They are currently six months old and eating fruit flies, maggots, spring tails and earthworms. Their parents eat frozen bloodworms and I'd like the youngsters to eventually do the same. Raising all these bugs isnt really a problem but I'd like them on the no-fuss diet eventually. Especially as I've got friends who have expressed a desire to take some of the little guys when they grow up...Im not really comfortable having anyone leave my care until Im sure they can be easily cared for.

I've heard that you can train them to eat from tweezers (some of my bolder ones already do that) and then swap the live food for dead. As I've got near on 40 youngsters this seems like a daunting task.

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I'd recommend hand-feeding the ones that are willing to do it, even if it's just a few of them. You'll probably need to house them separately. Then, at least you'll have a few of them that are ready to go to other people sooner. For the ones that won't hand feed, you just have to wait until they are older and get them into living in water - at that point they will accept frozen bloodworms, no problem, just like your adults do.

Brie said:

Also, I bought my adults from a Pets Unlimited which is pretty much the Wal-Mart of animal distribution so it seems incredible to me that the newts they carry were all hand-fed at some point. But I guess its possible they get their newts from a respectable breeder, the type that tweezer-trans efts regulaly. What do I know?

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The newts you got at the shop were wild-caught. They grew up in the wild where there was live food provided by mother nature.

I hand feed both my newts; I assume they weren't hand fed in the shop but I just perservered until they took the food from the tweezers; I don't mind if they don't eat their whole dinner from me; just so long as they eat some from me.

One of mine (I think he must be quite young) will NOT eat frozen blood worm at all. I eventually bought frozen brine shrimp and he loves that. I feed a bit brine shrimp and a bit blood worm but when I put the blood worm to the newt he just walks away; if I do the same again with brine shrimp, it's gone instantly.

They just start eating dead food on their own? That seems odd to me, how do they suddenly recognize dead worms as acceptable. Right now their menu is totally based around wiggle. It dosnt matter how many times they've eaten a worm, if the current worm isnt showcasing adequate wiggle than the little guys will pass it up. I never thought I'd ever associate motion with delisiouse but I've become an expert on the movements of maggots and worms; I see a worm waving its head around in a way thats enticing but not too aggressive and I think "Oh, hes just screaming to all who can hear that his body is plump and tasty, who's going to go chomp that serpent?" I've also learned the trick of nipping worms with the tweezers to get em kicking when they are too still.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, much lass labour intensive than I thought; do nothing! Less it dosnt get better than that.

Brie said:

They just start eating dead food on their own?

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Different food recognition systems are used by your terrestrial juveniles than those used by aquatic adults. Most terrestrial caudates (and I believe anurans) rely on movement to elicit a feeding response. Eventually they can be trained to accept certain human movements as potential food (i.e. toothpick feeding.)

Most aquatic species appear to rely on their sense of smell. The water helps with the transmission of compounds to the chemoreception organs of the caudate. The frozen blood worms are probably similar enough in smell to some native species of chironomid (the family of insects that blood worms belong to) to elicit a feeding response.

That makes sense, I've noticed my adults seem to be quite blind. They'll be rummaging about looking for food when theres a huge pile an inch from their head. It seems when they finally locate the pile they first push their noses against it so that strands of bloodworm get pinched between their face and the stone and then snap it up real quick so that all four feet come off the ground. They rather look like parade floats suspended like that. I get the impression they think they're killing the bloodworms and need to be hasty, least they escape.

I didnt know pet store newt were caught from the wild. Its a wonder they adjust as well as they do. It also seems...unneccisary? It seems it would be far easier and more suitable to be wheeling and dealing in captive bred newts.

Brie said:

I didnt know pet store newt were caught from the wild. Its a wonder they adjust as well as they do. It also seems...unneccisary? It seems it would be far easier and more suitable to be wheeling and dealing in captive bred newts.

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This is one of those cases where the market doesn't work. Wild caught animals can be purchased for pennies per animal or even less. So despite the fact that so many do not adjust well and die on the way to pet stores a tidy profit can still be made on the survivors. Wild caught newts are often not fed at all until they arrive in pet stores. They may have been off food for weeks between being captured in their native homes, shipping and temporary storage at the wholesalers. It is truly amazing that as many animals survive as we see.

Captive bred animals, on the other hand, must be fed, housed and maintained for several months or more before they are ready for sale. Add up the overhead of electricity, time of the keeper and cost of food items and captive bred animals cost more per unit than their wild caught brethren. Same reasons so much stuff is imported. Of course you are paying for many things: healthier animals, ecological sustainability and captive propagation of the species.

Abrahm said:

This is one of those cases where the market doesn't work. Wild caught animals can be purchased for pennies per animal or even less. So despite the fact that so many do not adjust well and die on the way to pet stores a tidy profit can still be made on the survivors. Wild caught newts are often not fed at all until they arrive in pet stores. They may have been off food for weeks between being captured in their native homes, shipping and temporary storage at the wholesalers. It is truly amazing that as many animals survive as we see.

Captive bred animals, on the other hand, must be fed, housed and maintained for several months or more before they are ready for sale. Add up the overhead of electricity, time of the keeper and cost of food items and captive bred animals cost more per unit than their wild caught brethren. Same reasons so much stuff is imported. Of course you are paying for many things: healthier animals, ecological sustainability and captive propagation of the species.

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You make a great point to let people know what the extra money is really worth... Thanks for shining some light on the actual value of cb newts and sals!

-jbherpin-

How is it so often that the pet market is abusive to those very animals fueling their enterprise? It seems that animals should be one of those things that you wouldnt get into it unless you loved animals. If a person had no interest, why wouldnt that person end up selling insurance or refrigerators or something? How can a person

The last few days that I've known my newts were wild has really changed how I feel about them. Im honered that they arnt afraid of me and will eat out of my hand. I would understand if they wanted to hide all day, every day. They dont, but I wouldnt blame them. I also sudenly feel like they need a bigger tank with more hiding places, even though they have two caves and several plants already.

I will definatly pass this on information to any fellow enthusiasts. Not that everyone in my circle isnt already aware that I've fourty-odd newts up for grabs as it is.