How they can turn orange?!

[pezzatos]

I got 3 Neurergus kaiserii born from a friend here in Italy, they were born all with white legs (not orange), and also the stripe and underside are of a very light orange.
Their parents have bright orange legs, stripe on the back and ventral; and another breeder who took some brothers of mine Neurergus turned them to orange! I don't know how, but he don't want to tell the secret!
Can anybody tell me something about

 

[SludgeMunkey]

It is all in what you feed them.

The young ones start out yellow, shift to gray, then develop white spots. The white turns yellowish, then orange over time if they are fed a diet high in carotenes, just like other caudata.

The "secret" is to feed them lots of daphnia, mysis shrimp, and brine shrimp (artemia).

 

[Joost]

For my Cynops species, I use cantaxanthine (normally for birds) for several years with succes. Although I have not experience with Neurergus, may-be it's worth trying this.

 

[Jennewt]

Many vitamin supplements for reptiles contain carotene. There are even some products made specifically to enhance colors. This would only be useful if the animals are eating terrestrial foods, like crickets.

 

[pezzatos]

Thanks everybody! :happy:
I supposed that the secret was the food, but i wanted to know what kind of food...
So Artemia must be the secret! Because there are a lot of Daphnia in the acquarium and they seems to give no result in color...

cantaxanthine....interesting...!

 

[pezzatos]

I read that cantaxanthine is very abundant in salmon meat!
Can you tell me if I can give salmon little pieces to my newts?!

 

[Azhael]

Salmon pieces are a very poor food for caudates.
If you want a red color, just provide lots of crustaceans. Gammarids, fairy shrimp, Daphnia, isopods, fresh water shirmp, all contain canthaxanthine and will give the newts a nice red color.
The Daphnia might not be working if they are not consuming it in sufficiently large amounts or if the Daphnia are not eating enough carotene-rich algae.

 

[pezzatos]

Thank you Azhael! But where do I can get live shrimps? Are they easy to breed in large quantity?...