Plate for food

[jake.]

Being as i have a gravel bottom in my aquarium and i feed my newts live diced night-crawlers, would it be convenient for me to put some type of plate on the bottom of my aquarium to put the worms in so that they cant wiggle into the gravel?

 

[nesaraj]

Yes, that might work. My newts seem to have to trouble finding the worms even in the gravel, but my gravel bed is very sparse.

 

[nesaraj]

that should read "...have no trouble..."

 

[jake.]

My gravel bed is about 2 inches deep. It is very hard to retrieve the unneaten worms because they burrow as soon as i put them in giving the newts about 1 min to find them. (I feed em night crawlers)
Do you think it is better to not have a gravel bed? Have the bed just be the aquarium glass?

 

[kaysie]

Or you could have a much thinner layer of gravel. Or you could hand feed. Or you could try your plate option (sounds like a good idea, although I use just scattered rocks, not a layer of gravel).

 

[jake.]

i dont really want to startle the newts so i cant really take out allot of gravel without removing the newts and decorations. I might try the plate im not sure yet. What do you mean by "Hand feed them"?

 

[kaysie]

I use a paperclip. Skewer a worm on the end of a paperclip bent into an L shape and wiggle it in front of their face. The big benefit is then you know who is eating and who is not.

(Message edited by kaysie on July 20, 2004)

 

[jake.]

So you do that every couple days? What should i do if one of the newts does not eat? about what size should i cut the worm (night crawler)?
thanks,

 

[kaysie]

I feed my big animals tuesdays and fridays, and the babies get fed every other day. If they dont eat, dont force them. Wait until the next day or try bringing over an animal that is eating, and "showing" the non eater what he's suppose to be doing. I use 1cm pieces for my smaller animals. The bigger ones are overfed, lol.