Sudden change in eating habits

[numpty]

Hi all,

I have a paddletail newt (probably P. labiatus). I've had him for about a year and a half. When I first got him, he ate everything I offered - ReptoMin, turtle sticks, worms, crickets, chicken heart - and ate voraciously. Then last summer I gave him to a pet store so they could take care of him while I was away on vacation for three weeks. They undoubtedly kept him a bit on the warm side, and didn't keep the water particularly clean, but he came back looking fit enough. However, since that time he has been a very picky eater. He won't touch ReptoMin and the like, which was his staple diet before. He'll eat chopped worms and small pieces of chicken heart, but the former requires my going out and digging around in parks, and the latter isn't really a rounded diet. In all other respects he seems to be healthy. Any ideas what might have happened to change his eating habits to this extent?

 

[Chinadog]

I don't have any Paddletails, but my firebellies are less actvenand eat far less at time of year for some reason. The first time it happened I was worried, but they do it every year now so I think its just part of their natural yearly cycle. Although they don't leave the water or hibernate, they must just slow down because of the shorter day lengths and lower temps.
If your Paddletail is a good weight and otherwise healthy, I wouldn't worry too much at this stage, maybe he's just not used to eating much at this time of year?

 

[numpty]

Thanks for the reply.

If the change in eating habits was something that had started with the cooler weather, I wouldn't have been surprised. However, it happened in August (during the period he was being taken care of) and has continued to this day. He's doing well enough, but it's not so easy to find food that interests him. It's inconvenient. For the first year he used to eat just about anything I put in front of him, but now he's very picky. So I was wondering if anyone had any theories as to what might have happened to change his "personality" this way.

 

[crawdaddy]

My CFB newts have gone on random strikes against eating specific things, even though they ate them in the past. Last year, they ate frozen bloodworms happily, but now, they won't even touch them unless hand-fed. It could be possible that its just a phase. If your newt is in healthy weight, you could try to give him 3-4 days without food and them offer whatever he wouldn't eat until he eats.

 

[numpty]

My CFB newts have gone on random strikes against eating specific things, even though they ate them in the past. Last year, they ate frozen bloodworms happily, but now, they won't even touch them unless hand-fed. It could be possible that its just a phase. If your newt is in healthy weight, you could try to give him 3-4 days without food and them offer whatever he wouldn't eat until he eats.

Thanks. Every 3-4 days is about how often I feed him anyway. I did make him wait a week at one point, then tried waggling a pellet in front of his nose. After I'd bothered him for a few minutes he half-heartedly bit at it, but didn't follow up. I didn't have the heart to make him wait any longer than a week though.

 

[Stupot1610]

I wouldn't worry about it unless it starts to get thin. Hope everything goes well.

 

[numpty]

I wouldn't worry about it unless it starts to get thin. Hope everything goes well.

Thanks. I just miss the days when it was easy to give him a balanced diet with pellets. Now I have to go out at night ferreting about for worms in the nearby city parks, never knowing if I'm going to find any, or if they'll be pesticide free.

I still don't know what the heck happened at that pet store while I was away, to change his habits so completely.