Eastern Red Spotted newt help

[Bloodysamflint]

I have a little eastern red spotted newt. Its been in my possession for about 5 months now and he eats very little. I have witnessed him eating maybe 3 times. today i went to feed him diced meal worm and it looked like he went to bite it for a taste then dropped it and ignored it. Ive also tried earthworm and bloodworms. My question is what technique would be good to feed him.

Also i have him in a 25 gallon aquarium but he never goes swimming after a month he climbed out onto a piece of floating cork wood and has sat there ever since. the water is very clean and usually in the upper 60's at highest low 70's (Fahrenheit) He is relatively active but increasingly thin. I was under the impression that they after the eft stage are primarily aquatic. Any suggestions on my situation would be handy. if you need more info just ask.

 

[Bloodysamflint]

also I have seen him gulp down a whole mealworm once, and he has eaten diced earthworm off of my finger, but only once.

 

[geganewt]

try waxworms, i've hear good things about that

 

[lilsoul]

Try blackworms mine never turn them down.do you have plants they like lots of plants?

 

[Nathan050793]

If you feed him waxworms I would suggest cutting them in half and hand feeding them or else he might not be able to eat it. Also, I would try frozen bloodworms again, my notos can't resist them.

 

[Bloodysamflint]

thanks for the ideas, ill try frozen might be easier than the live ones i tried. You thaw them out first right?

 

[Lasher]

thanks for the ideas, ill try frozen might be easier than the live ones i tried. You thaw them out first right?

Yeah, I drop a cube or two into a tea strainer(I suggest buyin one specificaly for the purpose, bloodworm/daphnia flavoured tea is quite unpleasent!) and run them under warm water for a minute or two. Its also good to rinse them as it will wash out any debris or icky stuff that was frozen with them and would otherwise make a mess. The frozen bloodworm around here sem to be frozen with there own weight in silt.

 

[Bloodysamflint]

thanks lasher, ill let you guys know if anything works

 

[RICH123]

have you checked the water quality like nitrate levels or PH levels as this may be stressing him out, i would also keep trying with bloodworms.

 

[Whoo]

It is very important that really shouldn't try to keep them alive they are hard to to take care of, and when I had them they were big and fat, then the next moring alot of them had died. Shouldn't be taking them anyway since amphibians are now officaly highly endangered.

 

[Kaysie]

Kyle, you mean one shouldn't keep Notos as they're hard to take care of? I've not seen them to be any harder to care for than other newts.

Additionally, "officially endangered" is a misnomer. Some amphibian populations are in trouble (some in significant trouble, with risk of extinction), but some are doing just fine, both in the wild and in captivity. Notos aren't really that rare, and they're fairly easy to breed/keep in captivity. You can't classify an entire class of animals as 'endangered'.

 

[dani]

Kyle, you mean one shouldn't keep Notos as they're hard to take care of? I've not seen them to be any harder to care for than other newts.

Additionally, "officially endangered" is a misnomer. Some amphibian populations are in trouble (some in significant trouble, with risk of extinction), but some are doing just fine, both in the wild and in captivity. Notos aren't really that rare, and they're fairly easy to breed/keep in captivity. You can't classify an entire class of animals as 'endangered'.

Kaysie's right I actually find them one of the easist species to care for I've had my two for nearly a year now with no problems.

 

[texasian]

feeding red-spotted newts

hi samflint, i've had exceptional luck feeding my newts dried bloodworms and newt pellets using a pair of tweezers in front of them. unfortunately about this they've grown so accustomed to eating in this method that they don't hunt much anymore except for some tubiflex worms i get once in a while. i don't mind since it's really cute to feed them anyway, but they eat regularly from my tweezers and are healthy and active all the time. i would just take a pinch of dried bloodworms (which seem to me their favorite), dip them in the water and then put the bunch near their faces. mine are so conditioned to this that when they see the tweezers they all come running to get some grub! i also sometimes catch crane flies around the house and put one near the newts and they'll eat those live and whole with a little effort. good luck!

 

[chrisrolinski]

My red spotted newt/eastern was very thin and shy at first, though it now eats well. I switch between small mealworms (when they have shed their exosekeleton) and lesser wax worms (look at dartfrog for supplies). It seems to like these. Mine also refused to go onto water, then this weekend I went and got some coldwater plants and have heavily planted the tank. Now it clambers around all over these instead of staying on land.

Good luck with yours!

 

[ButtercupSaiyan]

What kind of suppliers did you all go through? I am absolutely crazy about this species and would do anything for a red eft that turns into an attractive green adult!

 

[chrisrolinski]

You could also gather some leaf litter from your garden. Lots of 'creep crawlies' fall out and the newt loves them. Not as a stable, but helps as part of its varied diet - and fund for it to hunt.

I got the newt from a local pet shop.

 

[Nathan050793]

What kind of suppliers did you all go through? I am absolutely crazy about this species and would do anything for a red eft that turns into an attractive green adult!

N.viridescens is so common in the eastern half of the U.S. that many times small pet stores offer them for sale. I would advise against buying from pet stores though, as the animals are usually in poor condition. By buying them, you free up space for more newts to be treated in the same manner. Wards Bio offers them for sale in packs of three, however they aren't much better.

Mine are WC (by myself), however, if you plan to take them out of their natural habitat, check your state's laws and regulations on the numbers and species you are allowed to take.

 

[ButtercupSaiyan]

Thank you. Do you have a site for Wards Bio? Google directs me ... back to this page.

 

[Kaysie]

http://www.wardsci.com/

But it should be noted that Ward's animals are also wild caught, and sometimes are worse than pet shop animals.

 

[Otterwoman]

If he wants to stay on land, why don't you provide a little more land area? When I had efts, I fed them blackworms in a shallow dish, they loved that and ate well.