When is the best time to feed?

[webzdebs]

Hi there, I went out and bought some Tubifex for my newts yesterday as I had done some reading about what they liked and tubifex was the easiest thing I could find - that I thought they'd really like, as I can't get earthworms or waxworm for them.

The stuff I bought is freeze dried in cubes, but on the box it says that its only to be fed occasionally (2-3 times a week) as part of a balanced diet, but I think that means for tropical fish who are getting a staple food and get this as a treat, am I right?

My second question is when to feed them, should it be everyday, once or twice a day and lastly is it the rule of whatever they eat in 2 minutes?

 

[dipsydoodle]

I feed my newts every 3 days.

Are they freeze dried or frozen? (I just didn't think freeze dried came in blocks).

I feed mine, blood worm, brine shrimp and daphnia on a regular basis; we'll be getting round to trying more things in future.

Edit:
I try and hand feed mine so I can see what they are eating, my two aquatic newts will be hand fed, but I have two food bowls in the tank and I leave stuff in there for them as well; I leave it in a couple of hours and then take it out.

My terrestrial newt is entirely hand fed, I sit and feed for about 20-30mins or sooner if I know he's had enough; I then go back a few times within the next couple of hours to try more food; as he won't eat it himself.

 

[Azhael]

Freeze-dried tubifex are a very poor food item. Nutritionally they are lacking in way too many things. Even as a part of a varied-healthy diet, they are simply redundant.....

How exactly is it you can´t get earthworms? If you have a garden or know of anyone who has a garden free of chemicals you can ahrvest them yourself. You can also buy them in baitshops, sometimes even at petshops. Additionally you can certainly buy them on the internet.
You really should have no trouble finding some...and once you do, you can set-up your own culture to have earthworms available for your newts when they need them.

Waxworms you can order online or at pet-shops. You can also feeds them small slugs, small crickets (gutloaded), live/frozen bloodworms or tubifex (remember, not freeze-dried....), Daphnia, small whole fresh water dish, even commercial caudate pellets.

Make an effort in giving your animals a healthy diet, they certainly deserve it.

 

[dipsydoodle]

Just noticed your location actually; you will be able to get a lot of the frozen food at pets at home if you have one locally. Most pet shops have live and frozen blood worms in, most also have brine shrimp, dapnia both live and frozen. The shops also do frozen tubifex. The prices aren't that expensive for the food (it's maybe expensive but considering how long it lasts it's worth it).

 

[slowfoot]

According to my newts: All the time!

Serious answer: I usually feed every 4-5 days, which is a little less than some people feed. They are usually fed about 2, 1cm long pieces of earthworm at each feeding. Or 1 cube of frozen (not freeze-dried) bloodworm divided among 4 newts.

 

[webzdebs]

Thanks everyone for the advice, but I can't help but feel I am being yelled at for neglecting my animals from Azhael, maybe it's just a language barrier or the usual syndrome of things being read differently in writing than the way they were meant.

I've been trying to read as much as I can over the last week about these animals, and have been discussing everything with my other half who has more experience with tropical fish and had done some reading up on these animals prior to us getting them. Just today I have read the article on worms and it discussed options such as culturing them yourself so you have a supply of them.

I think it's worth remembering that some of us are learning and looking to older members for guidance and help and advice rather than the abrupt replies we sometimes receive - this isn't helpful and usually makes us feel like not being member of a forum with such a harsh community rather than it being a helpful and friendly place to share knowledge and help beginners get the information they need.

Back to the topic, I am going to source some live worms on the net if i can or indeed in the pet shops as has been suggested. As for digging up worms, i don't know why but i never thought that would be ok, but thinking about it more its a very good idea and i have a few places i can go to try and harvest some food for my newts

 

[dipsydoodle]

The one problem with digging for worms (say in your garden) is that you can't use fertillizers/chemicals etc and similarly you need to make sure your neighbours don't as the worms will travel between gardens.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

I am going to source some live worms on the net if i can or indeed in the pet shops as has been suggested. As for digging up worms, i don't know why but i never thought that would be ok, but thinking about it more its a very good idea and i have a few places i can go to try and harvest some food for my newts

There are a few more options for worms. You can go to your nearest bait shop/fishing store as they would surely have some. Another option is to go outside on the next cool, damp night with a flashlight because the worms will be coming out of their burrows and sitting on top of the dirt.

 

[webzdebs]

oh yes I forgot about that one Justin, another good idea of waiting for the worms to come up. I don't have my own garden, it's a communal one that all the flat owners share and i'm not sure that it's not fertilised etc so prob best not to get any from there.

 

[Azhael]

I´m sorry wezdebs, i assure i didn´t mean to give the impression that i was yelling or lecturing you :S

 

[CherryBlossom]

We should look into where the nearest bait supplier is in Dundee debs. Im sure the both of us could sort something out xxxx

 

[webzdebs]

Yep good plan!!