Cynops orientalis yellow bellies?

[geron]

I just recently heard about this in captive bred newts and it is said that a certain diet leads to this color?

Does anyone know what kind of diet they would need to be fed on to get yellow tummies?

 

[Azhael]

If what you want is for them to have yellow/cream bellies the diet needs to be very poor in carotenes. Carotenes like astaxanthin and canthaxanthin need to be contained in the diet so that they can be stored in the chromatophores of the belly. The least amount is needed during metamorphosis or somewhat earlier, but later on, specially in adults higher quantities and longer exposure is required to achieve the same results.
A lack of carotenes and therefore yellow bellies don´t appear to negatively affect them but care should be taken to provide a rich and varied diet. Avoiding carotene rich foods like crustaceans so that red bellies don´t develop should not come at the expense of offering a deficient diet.

 

[geron]

Thank you for the info.

 

[imheretowatch]

if you feed your newt larvae more crustaceans (high in carotenes) they result in a more orange coloration for example. brine shrimp, daphnia, cyclops, etc but if you dont then they just have a more yellow belly which doesnt hinder the newt at all in fact i think it looks pretty cool i fed mosquito larvae to my little newts to get them yellow

 

[stanleyc]

White worms would also result in this, but I'm pretty sure a diet with white worms as the staple is not very nutritious for them.

 

[Niels D]

I've got a couple of years experience with adding carotene powder (for birds) to the diet, which gives them a red colour just as bright as with the wc animals. Works on B.orientalis as well. When I feed my offspring tubifex and white/blood worms they remain yellow even if I've fed them freshly hatched brineshrimp in the beginning.

 

[Chinadog]

What additive/method do you use, Niels? I've tried Necton Repcolour dusted on to fruit flies, worms and baby crickets but my juvenile pyrro's just spit them out when they taste the powder, they hate it!
Sorry for hijacking the thread!

 

[fishkeeper]

Repashy calcium plus has carotenoids from a mix in of Repashy superpig in it-astaxanthins of various sorts.

I would disagree on this not harming the newts. Carotenoids are vital for various physiological reasons in the body.

 

[Azhael]

And yet there are a great many CB yellow-bellied caudates of various species that thrive and breed normally.
A diet poor in carotenes is not the same as a diet that contains no carotenes. There´s also the matter of which carotenes as there are many, many types.
As long as the diet is varied and rich, i don´t think carotene deficiency is a concern, even if it nevers leads to a red coloration.

 

[sde]

Hi,

I was wondering if feeding a diet high in carotene could give a adult a more orange belly? And what can you feed that has a high carotene diet? Sorry about high jacking the thread.

 

[stanleyc]

Hi,

I was wondering if feeding a diet high in carotene could give a adult a more orange belly? And what can you feed that has a high carotene diet? Sorry about high jacking the thread.

Yes, the only food item I know for sure that is high in carotene is Daphnia.