P waltl feeding habits

[Ken Worthington]

Hello,

I've had my newt for nearly a week now.

He/she's around 8 or 9 cm in length and doing very well.

I was wondering how much a newt of that size should eat?

The newt seems always hungry (I'd be surprised if it were any different!) but I don't want to over/under-feed the little fella.

He's been living on chopped (organic) earthworms, having about 1.5 to 2 inches per day in total (if it's possible to measure a worm! lol), a little at noon, then a little in the evening.

Is this about right for him at the moment?

Reptomin sticks don't wiggle so he's not interested.

Has anyone experience of adding paprika to their wormery to increase carotene levels in their newts' diet?

There are a couple of small Ghost shrimp sharing his tank, but he hasn't proved quick enough yet!

If I were to not feed the newt for a day, would his hunting instincts and hunger make him try for the shrimp? (I bought the shrimp to help cycle the tank, and eventually become food, btw) Or this this a bad idea?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks in advance

 

[Mark]

All newts are opportunistic feeders. In the wild meals are not regular so newts are hardwired to eat whenever they get the chance. P.waltl in particular are masters at not missing out on an “opportunity”. For a young newt, feeding a modest amount 2-3 times a week is fine. It’s normally quite easy to visually gauge if the animal is under or overweight. You’re looking for a healthy middle ground. Fully grown newts require less food and will be quite happy with one good feeding a week.

 

[Ken Worthington]

Thanks Mark,

 

[donia]

Hi Ken!

I've got Ribbed newts, but they are all fully grown, so not sure about younger ones. I try to feed mine every 2/3 days with a few whole small worms from the garden. I alternate this with frozen bloodworm and tubifex cubes for some variety. Also, mine get Reptomin on occasion - since these float and don't move, I stir them gently with a pair of tweezers to get the newts' attention, which seems to work well.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ken Worthington]

Thanks Donia :happy:

I have some small cubes of dried Tubifex worms, would you recommend pre-soaking the cube in a bit of tank water first?

 

[froggy]

Dried Tubifex has very little nutritional value - frozen tubifex or bloodworm are much better alternatives. I would stick with the earthworms or supplement them with frozen bloodworm/tubifex rather than using the dried variety.

Good luck with your Pleurodeles!

Chris

 

[Ken Worthington]

Thanks, Chris :happy: