Fire belly newt not eating

[Shouto]

Hello,
I have three fire belly newts. Two are rather plump and clearly eating. I feed them a mix of red wigglers, crickets, blood worms and pellets. All of my newts are about 1.5 inches long. One of my newts is rather skinny and I havent seen him eat in awhile. He looks at the crickets and the worms as if hes going to bite them but then gives up for no apparent reason. Im reluctant to try nightcrawlers because of their size. Even chopped up night crawlers are widder than my newts mouths. He is pretty active and transverses the tank but Im really worried about how skinny he is. What can I do? Ive tried hand feeding and tong feeding but he is too afraid as both my hand and the tongs are very large. Is there anything they cant resist? I just want to get him eating. Thank you!

 

[Chinadog]

You could try live blackworms or lesser waxworms. Red wrigglers have a foul taste and smell, so some newts will flatly refuse them.

 

[Shouto]

Oh ok I will. Thank you. Any idea where I could find those?

 

[Asevernnnn]

Oh ok I will. Thank you. Any idea where I could find those?

I've seen waxworms at some Dicks Sporting Goods with fishing bait for A LOT cheaper than they were at a petshop

 

[Shouto]

I've seen waxworms at some Dicks Sporting Goods with fishing bait for A LOT cheaper than they were at a petshop

Oh perfect. Thanks. Did you get a chance to see if they were very,large? My newts are still very small.

 

[Asevernnnn]

I don't think they were very big, since they're H. orientalis and they're more than likely wild caught, it's normal for them to refuse food due to stress, red wigglers won't get you very far, and some newts only go after moving food, I would try waxworms and chopped baby nightcrawlers, and maybe blackworms if those don't work, ordering blackworms can be pricey

 

[lilmiklo916]

Try wax worms or chopped mealworms.... Me personally they won't eat anything but bloodworms because their farm bred and that's what they've been eating their entire lives

 

[Chinadog]

Try wax worms or chopped mealworms.... Me personally they won't eat anything but bloodworms because their farm bred and that's what they've been eating their entire lives

Sorry to be so blunt, but that's simply not true. All Asian newts from pet stores are wild caught imports. Secondly, bloodworms are way too low in calcium to be fed all the time, you should get them onto chopped nightcrawlers or high quality pellets to prevent nutritional problems down the line. I've included a link, it's quite old, but still applies today 100%, unfortunately.

http://www.caudata.org/people/JM/firebelly.html

 

[Coastal Groovin]

You should be able to find black worms at any better Tropical fish store. Many times wild animals just fail to thrive after being collected. It can be the stress of shipping. parasite loads, maybe even just the change in its environment. Try placing feeding it in a small container all by itself with some blackworms. I have a male Notophthalmus I have to feed that way. I don't get why he won't feed in the main tank but will in a little a container. I just know it works for him.

 

[Shouto]

Hey that's a good idea with the separate container. I may have to try that with black worms. Thanks for all the feedback everyone! So here's the update. I managed to find some wax worms. One of my newts attacked them, one wasn't interested and my newt that hasn't been eating attacked a couple. Now when I say he attacked a couple I mean he bit a couple and then let go and now he won't look twice at them.