Hi Everyone.
I am now the proud owner of 3 Eastern Spotted Newts; my daughter caught them on our camping trip in the North Carolina mountains and cried incessantly when I suggested we let them go. Anyway, I have them in a pretty nice habitat, but they are not eating. It has been 2 weeks now! At first I tried to feed them small crickets and mealworms as directed by staff at Petco and Petsmart (who know very little about them)....they were completely uninterested. Then I tried frozen bloodworms, beef heart, and brine shrimp.....also uninterested. Then I moved on to earthworms I dug out of my yard (whole and pieces), and they actually seemed interested and tried to eat them, but when I attempted again they were not enthused. I went to a bait store and bought some live red worms (tried to feed them whole and in pieces) as well as huge night crawlers (cut them up) ; my newts were not at all interested in them. I have tried feeding them in their tank and also in a container with no distractions. I have also tried to hand feed them with forceps, all to no avail. I am thinking about moving on to blackworms, but they seem expensive and available by the pound. By the way, the newts seem very healthy although 2 of them are skinny. Any advice would be appreciated!
Dave
I am now the proud owner of 3 Eastern Spotted Newts; my daughter caught them on our camping trip in the North Carolina mountains and cried incessantly when I suggested we let them go. Anyway, I have them in a pretty nice habitat, but they are not eating. It has been 2 weeks now! At first I tried to feed them small crickets and mealworms as directed by staff at Petco and Petsmart (who know very little about them)....they were completely uninterested. Then I tried frozen bloodworms, beef heart, and brine shrimp.....also uninterested. Then I moved on to earthworms I dug out of my yard (whole and pieces), and they actually seemed interested and tried to eat them, but when I attempted again they were not enthused. I went to a bait store and bought some live red worms (tried to feed them whole and in pieces) as well as huge night crawlers (cut them up) ; my newts were not at all interested in them. I have tried feeding them in their tank and also in a container with no distractions. I have also tried to hand feed them with forceps, all to no avail. I am thinking about moving on to blackworms, but they seem expensive and available by the pound. By the way, the newts seem very healthy although 2 of them are skinny. Any advice would be appreciated!
Dave