Food for larvae

I

iced01

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I heard that someone used ground up food pellets, does this work?
 
Probably not. In general, larvae will only accept live foods. I am unaware of any caudata species who's larvae will readily eat pellets. Does anybody know of a caudatan larvae that will?
 
I think they said something about a pellet mash? I'm not quite sure it is a larvae. It is about as long as a tadpole, but not as wide. It has external gills like an axoltyl. But I suspect it is a prematurely hatched tadpole, I have never seen a newt in my area.
 
I fed newt larvae frozen bloodworms,but they mostly like live food.Daphnia,brine shrimp and blackworms are accepted.
 
There have been cases of larvae raised on pellet mash, but it's not very likely to succeed. If it has external gills, it's definately a salamander/newt larva, not a tadpole. I don't know where you are in VA, but there are plenty of native sals there, and also red spotted newts in some areas. If you tell me what metropolitan area you live in, I might be able to help you find a source of live blackworms, as I used to live in VA. Another alternative is to use pond water, which has lots of little micro-organisms in it.
 
I found the larvae in a puddle, along with about 100 tadpoles of varying species. Needless to say it was pretty overcrowded. I know there are newts and tadpoles in Virginia as my 3 N.Viridecens are wild caught, I just have not seen a single caudate in my area. (the N.Viridecens were caught at a pond 10 miles away). I have pond water in the small tank with the larvae and there are small white creatures in the water. I have not seen the larvae eat. I found the egg in a large cluster, like a tadpole, so that brings my next question...what kind of larvae is it. I have seen N.Viridecens eggs and that larvae did not come from one. I suspect mudpuppy (what is their scientific name?) as I have heard reports of large numbers in the area.
 
Mudpuppies lay eggs under rocks. The sals in VA that lay them in clusters are various Ambystoma species. Most likely opacum or maculatum.
 
The eggs were found in the water not in the dirt as illustrated on this page: http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_opacum.shtml But the larvae looks like an immaturre version of the larvae on that page. The larvae looks like the one on this page: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/A_mac_series.shtml and the eggs look exactly like the ones on this page: http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_maculatum.shtmlDo the Ambystoma species go through an eft stage? If they do how long does it last? Are Ambyostoma maculatum cared for exacly like Ambyostema opacum, or are they more aquatic?
 
All ambystoma are terrestrial (with the exception of the neotenic species like axolotls). They're mole salamanders and spend almost all their time underground. If you want a pet you can watch, these are definately not for you. Otherwise, I find ambystomids interesting.
 
My mistake: they couldn't be opacum, as they lay on the ground near water. Maculatum is a good bet. Their basic care will be similar to tiger sals (A. mavortium/tigrinum), but they will not be as large. A. maculatum will have fully-terrestrial juveniles and adults. They are only aquatic as larvae and during breeding in the wild. The word "eft" only applies to certain newts that return to live in the water as adults, and that's not the case here.

There is a remote possibility that you stumbled on eastern tiger sal eggs (A. tigrinum). Be aware that these are rare, but if you did find them, they are protected in VA and may be illegal to possess.
 
Another question, how long will the larvae remain a larvae. Just a ballpark figure. To give you an idea of where they are at now, the larvae has visible front legs with toes.
 
The larvae appears to be eating the mash, as there is a brown/black stripe running down it's under side. There are a few tiny organisms in the tank and a little crumpled goldfish flakes. I'm guessing it is a spotted sal, how long till it starts to metomorphosize it can't be too much longer. It only took the little guy a week to grow front legs
 
If it has no back legs yet, I would guess another 2-3 months. In order for them to survive after morphing, it's important that they eat a LOT during the larval period: nice fat bellies. I'd suggest you find a source for live blackworms. If that's absolutely impossible, then try to train them to eat frozen/thawed bloodworm.
 
The puddle that I found the egg in has tadpoles and more larvae in it so will the pond water method work? I have seen little white specs darting about in the water I collected, but I have never seen "an apparent bobbing motion" signifying that the newt is eating.
 
If that's all you can get, keep using the pond water. If there aren't a lot of food items in the water, you won't see the bobbing motion very often (you'd have to watch for hours). Watch instead for slightly fattened bellies.
 
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  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
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    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
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    @Clareclare,
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