Do newts eat nightcrawlers?

[tiffany]

if so do they have to be cut up?

 

[ali]

Yes, and Yes. My newts (t. grans and cynops orientalis) both eat nightcrawlers.

You need to chop of the really dark end (the head) because it can irritate the newt after eaten, so don't feed that part (I don't know, but to be safe I don't feed the tip of the tail either)

And then they have to be chopped into small enough pieces to eat. My newts will spit it back out and then refuse to eat if I haven't cut it up small enough. I suppose it's just because those worms are so thick, they have a hard time getting it down if it isn't cut small enough.

 

[carly]

Huh... good to know about the worm heads. I never knew that. My guys have eaten them before no problem but I'll avoid it in the future.

 

[joan]

I feed my animals all ends of the night crawlers. They may still wiggle around in the stomach a bit, but they quickly die. This wiggling may have been what irritated your newts. I've never had a problem feeding worm heads/butts. I seem to recall your T.grans being smaller than mine too, that could be part of it. Mine are gigantic and will hoover up any food I present to them.

 

[jennifer]

The tail tip is the "filet mignon" of the worm, in my opinion. I sometimes do discard the head end because it is so fat, but there is no harm in using it to feed larger newts.

 

[ali]

Oops. Well, sorry Tiffany. I don't know where I got that information. It's hard to tell sometimes. At least I was using extra precaution and not enough, right! Good to know my worms can last me a bit longer now, hehe.

 

[tiffany]

thanks everyone