Anybody familiar with this food?

[Gregh]

how do I use it? thaw and serve?

 

[Nathan050793]

Defrost the cube of bloodworms then place them in the water near the newts; They can be messy, so you could try putting them in a jar and then lowering the whole thing into the tank if you want easy cleanup.

 

[Neuter]

I've never considered that actually, I always use tweezers.

If I put them in a small jar and put the jar in the tank, will they be able to find the food and get in and out of the jar? I'm not worried about them getting out but newts are not the brightest little critters, will they find their way in?

 

[Gregh]

i read somewhere else on the forum that putting some tank water in a container (like an ice cream tub) let it thaw there then put the salamander in there, good idea? bad idea?

 

[oregon newt]

Here is how I used to do it:

Sorry about the big picture. You may want try a bigger jar than I used.

Edit: That's a fine idea Gregh as long as the container is clean of course. I'm not sure if newts like ice cream.

 

[Neuter]

I use tank water to thaw mine in small cups, but it is not a good idea to take the salamanders out of the tank every time you feed them, handling them that much will stress them out.

Sometimes I put some after I thaw them in a corner of the tank but I remove any left after a few hours-how long is it really safe to leave them in? Overnight?

 

[Daniel]

Sometimes I put some after I thaw them in a corner of the tank but I remove any left after a few hours-how long is it really safe to leave them in? Overnight?

I am not sure how long it is really safe, but I do remove leftovers from frozen bloodworms after one night, too. They really quickly start to decay.

I also pour away the water in the glass after thawing and give the bloodworms a short rinsing with clean water. Pouring the water into your tank won't do any good, it is waste water.

 

[Dave1812]

When I feed Bloodworm I defrost them in a dish made for a reptiles drinking water, then place the dish in the same spot within the tank. I use the reptile dish just for the cosmetic effect.

 

[Gregh]

it says bloodworm "chironomous larvae", what's the significance of that? Is this normal food or is this some kind of live infant worm? haha

 

[Azhael]

It says that, because they are in fact larvae of non-biting midges of the family Chironomidae.

 

[pixolite]

Yes, midge fly larva, they come dead though, so no not live.

 

[Gregh]

I think i figured otu why my newt hasnt been eating, he's been shedding and eating that, I've seen 2 separate instances of shedding a layer and eating it in about 4 days haha... how long is this process/what does it mean/will it remove all other appetite?

 

[Azhael]

That sounds weird. Frequent shedding possibly means there´s something wrong, bad quality water, wounds, infections....i would check everything to make sure it´s ok.
Shedding doesn´t really work in layers, it´s not that it ´s shedding several layers until it´s finished. Also, eating it´s own shed should not prevent it from eating the regular food....but the other problems i mentioned would, so again, i´d suspect something´s wrong.

 

[Gregh]

well it was prior to now sharing a tank with a pleco several times it's size, I just moved the pleco hoping that will resolve it. Could that be it?

 

[Gregh]

how do i check for water quality?

 

[Jennewt]

If you plan to be keeping aquariums 'over the long haul', you should learn to test your own water for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. The liquid test kits are best (not the strips). If you need a quick test and aren't ready to invest in your own test kits, a lot of pet shops will test a sample for free. Take a clean jar of tank water to the pet shop.

The stress (or high temperature?) of the tank with the pleco could be causing the shedding problems. I recommend keeping them separated. What is the newt's water temperature?

 

[Gregh]

I've just recently moved the pleco, and i've been trying to control the temperature of the water around the high 60s recently, though it seems to have wormed its way back up to 78! I'll put a chilled water bottle in free to try to cool it and leave the window open tonight.

Where do i buy these full kits? any good stores or are they mostly online?