Fat little b*$%^&ds

[yossarian]

My fire bellies are really fat, I do not even need to describe it they just look really fat. I dont know the sex but I doubt they are pregnant. I was so desperate to get them eating that Ive gone totally overboard with wax worms and crickets and blood worms. they are extremely happy there is no doubt about that but i need weight loss advice, do I just starve them? hope not. I have three and one is not so bad but the other two are obese, big round bellies, it does not show on their heads, arms or tail. I also want to say that they are always desperate for food they run at me whenever i look at them, will eat my hand if i put it near them, they try to eat each other on a regular basis, its like dealing with the cookie monster.

 

[Azhael]

Being chunky is ok, but being obese is a dangerous thing for caudates. It can shorten their lives very significantly.
I would recommend feeding less often. Keep in mind that adults need only be fed once or twice a week sometimes.

The waxworms should be used sparangly. They are just too rich in fat to be a significant part of the diet, specially if the animals are already chubby.

 

[Jennewt]

Right, quit using waxworms completely, and cut back on how often you feed them.

 

[yossarian]

thanks again you guys, you have really helped raising these newts.

Also its strange, i recently rescued some cherry shrimp from my hostile betta fish by dumping them in the newt tank. They survived the cold but i was worried about the newts appetites, but today i found a shrimp pretty much cleaning the toes of one of the newts, it looked at it but ignored it. ??? its good news because they clean up all the dead plant matter, but do you have any idea why they get along?

 

[Holding2k9]

cherry shrimps are harmless to your newts and if you are not interested in the occasional shrimp going missing i wouldn't worry to much. before i started breeding freshwater/tropical shrimps i had a colony of cherry shrimp in with fire bellied newts. basically the shrimps develop a sense of danger and quickly evade to a safer place. good luck with your newts. also might i suggest bloodworm as they are nutritious and do not have a high fat content

 

[Azhael]

I´ve seen cherry shrimp standing on a newt´s head, the two of them just resting for a while. Once i even saw a shrimp stand in between the jaws of a yawning newt Oo xD
Mind you, not all newts stop noticing the shrimp once they figure out they are hard to catch. The odd one will get eaten.

 

[yossarian]

That is funny about the shrimp on its head. Newts are hilarious, I think the weightlessness makes them slightly dopey

I do feed them bloodworms but try to vary it, the only food i can get a hold of at the moment is bloodworms, crickets and waxworms, I'll drop the wax worms though. Still trying to get a wormery going but soon enough. Cheers

 

[PowerNewt]

I feed mine bloodworms.
At first I thought a couple were just really fat but it was eggs.
Even without the male present they have eggs. It was much less often, but after I moved to town it happened a lot more.
I had twin tadpoles a lot in one place I lived, and not after that...
Near half were twins.

 

[Jennewt]

I feed mine bloodworms.
At first I thought a couple were just really fat but it was eggs.
Even without the male present they have eggs.

That's a good point. Female newts can be heavily gravid even without a male present.