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how to feed

AaronK

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I cut the worms into pieces, the size of the piece is based on the size of the animal. I feed some by dropping the pieces in the tank and others I dangle the food in front of them with tweezers. You will know when they are done eating, the newt will swim away or just not respond to the food. Remove the uneaten food when they are done. Some times I will leave the food in over night so that shy ones will have a chance to eat on their own time.
 

oregon newt

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My newts are new to worms so whether I dangle it in front of them or leave it at the bottom of the tank, they will get scared and swim away or won't pay attention to it.:errr:
 

ecoreptiles

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Are your worms wiggling?? The motion of the prey item may be needed to trigger a feeding response.
If my terrestrial species ignore their food, I switch to a "livelier" worm and they gobble it right up!

Your aquatic guys might be spooked by your hand... When I feed my newts using tongs, I try to come from above and behind, so all they see is something wiggling near them.
Don't go too close; keep it to the side of their heads, and let them come closer to get it.

I also read something somewhere about getting frogs to eat worms that don't wiggle as much... The author said it was a lot like fishing: thread a worm (but pull the thread almost all the way through) and dangle it in front of your hungry animal, then when it grabs the prey, pull the last fraction of the thread out. Sounds easy, but might not be... I've never done this.

The only other thing I can think of is to try is using a feeding dish. Could the worms be getting lost in the gravel? A small feeding dish with high sides will help keep the food in one place, and your newts may learn to look there for their food. A clear glass dish works best because they can easily see the food items moving.
 

Otterwoman

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I have a system of feeding my newts in jars and it works very well, for keeping the worms in one spot and for cleaning. Also, the newts now know their food comes in the jar so I can offer different foods to them and they at least know they're supposed to eat it, whether they like it is another matter...at least they try it. That's how I got them to try bloodworms and to try cut up shrimp. Here are some visuals of the jar system. You can leave the jars in for a few hours, or overnight as I sometimes do, or until the next time you feed them as I also sometimes do (because they clean them out!). Also if there's just a little waste left, the snails get to them and I just let them clean out the pieces, and then if there are too many snails I have them all in a jar for easy disposal! (little do they know...heh heh heh). For my Tarichas, which are bigger animals, I have a glass baking bowl that you can see in the last picture...it's larger and that way they're not too crowded in there and biting each others' hands and feet.
This method isn't so good for foods that float, however, because they'll just float right out of the bowl and away into the tank. Hope this helps!
 

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