Intro.....but more importantly my newts won't eat!

[Dave M]

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

 

[RobM]

Hi Dave, welcome to the forum.

This is a common problem for those who take animals from the wild, it is one of many reasons why you should buy captive bred animals instead.

How and where are you keeping them?
I recommend that you have a read through the caresheet for this species: Caudata Culture Species Entry - Notophthalmus viridescens - Eastern Newt and make sure that how you are keeping them is correct. An unhappy newt is even less likely to eat than a newt who feels safe and happy. You are doing right by trying different foods, especially with the live food, something wiggling and moving is definitely more appealing to a newt.

 

[smily sam]

welcome to the forum dave

 

[Kaysie]

Definitely try the blackworms.

Often the hardest part is getting the animal to start eating. Once they start eating, you can go on to offer less expensive food options. One of the best is earthworms, nutritionally and financially speaking.

 

[Dave M]

Thanks for the replies. I am keeping the 3 newts in a 10 gallon aquarium that is filled about 1/3 of the way with water. It has gravel on the bottom and rocks of various sizes that stick up out of the water that they seem to enjoy hanging out on. There is a small electric filter that cleans the water without making too much current, and I have some plastic grass that they sometimes chill in. The first day I did not know to dechlorinate the water, and they looked a bit unhappy, but for the past 2 weeks they seem pretty happy. BUT THEY WON'T EAT

Does anyone have a recommendation on where to get black worms? Or should I try something else first?

Dave

 

[Dave M]

So I just tried blackworms, and they aren't eating them. I don't understand.....they look very delicious. They are squirming around tantalizingly, but no interest. I am out of ideas. I put the newts in a large plastic container with a couple of inches of water to feed them so the blackworms didn't get lost in the gravel. I will try again in their habitat, but I am think this is a bust. Meanwhile one of the newts ate a large piece of redworm/earthworm two days ago and he looks full and bloated, but the other newts are getting so skinny. They are active but they can't go on forever like this. Should I be freaking out yet? Any other food ideas? I appreciate any advice.

Dave

 

[Katmito]

It may be advantageous to try feeding them in the dark and making sure the water temp is cool. Depending on time of year you caught the newts the water is likely cool if you caught them recently. Moving them to warmer water will have ill effects on their health. My Spotted newts do the best at water temps around 60-65. Some picky eaters I feed alone (as to make sure they are not intimidated with other newts) and in the dark because they typically feed in the wild at night or in the very early morning while it is still fairly dark.
Good luck with feeding