Freeze-dried daphnia question.

[PoetryInPurple]

Hey there. I just ordered three red-spotted newts, and they should be arriving in the mail next wednesday (so excited!). These will be my first newts, and I've been reading up on them like crazy, trying to find out the best ways to cake care of them. I was at PETCO today, and, while browsing through the reptile/amphibian food section, I noticed the freeze-dried daphnia. I read somewhere that newts absolutely love it, but I'm not sure how to feed it to them. My 10-gallon tank will be mostly land-based, with about a 7-8 inch long, narrow (by maybe 3 or 4 inches) "pond"... Those things you get at hospitals, if anyone has a clue what I'm talking about (Is that a large enough water area?). Anyway, would I feed my newts by sprinkling the daphnia in the water, or would I put it on the dirt or in a little dish? And, also, how much and how often? I hear it's really good for them, so I want to get it right.

While I'm at it, anyone have any tips for new red-spotted newt owners? I appreciate all the help!

 

[Jennewt]

If the RSN are full-fledged adults, they will likely be fully aquatic and need more water, less land. An aquarium is usually more suitable than a terrarium. They would only eat daphnia from the water, not on land. As they almost certainly wild-caught, they may not recognize non-live food unless it smells like the real thing - I'm not sure if they will go for dried daphnia or not. Here is an article about foods:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml

I will move this post to the Newt Help section, as it is mostly care questions, not so much an Introduction. Welcome.

 

[PoetryInPurple]

Thanks for the link and the move (haven't really warmed up to the layout of the site, yet). I'm pretty sure my newts are going to be best suited in a terrarium, as they're most likely in the red eft stage. I ordered them from www.carolina.com, and I believe they breed the newts, rather than just collecting them from the wild. If they are, in fact, land dwellers, would it still be okay to feed them freeze-dried daphnia on the land? Or, despite being terrestrial, would they still prefer eating it from the water?

 

[Jennewt]

It's very unlikely that Carolina Bio breeds them. I would bet that they purchase them from wholesalers, who either collect them from nature or maybe farm them in ponds, more likely the former than the latter. There is very little chance that efts will eat freeze dried food of any kind. They will eat live fruit flies or pinhead-sized crickets or small bugs from outdoors. They can be trained to eat non-live food, such as chopped worms, from a toothpick.

 

[PoetryInPurple]

Hmm. Do you know of anyone who's had experience with Carolina Bio? They seemed pretty reputable, to me, but I could be wrong. When I ordered the newts, it said they might be mixed species, which seemed a little shifty, but I called, and they said that they had semi-aquatic viridescens, which I understand to be red efts.

Thanks for the tip about the daphnia. You saved me $7.99