Daphnia for adult Cynops orientalis?

[rasputin]

I have been looking through a lot of the site recently, as I have just housed some Cynops orientalis. I have been feeding them on live/frozen bloodworm to date, but after looking at some posts, it seems you can feed adults on Daphnia also.

Is this the case? And if so would they be considered a treat, or regular part of the diet?

I would be glad to hear from anyone who has a culture, especialy if it is for adults!

 

[Jennewt]

If you had a regular supply of it, Daphnia could certainly be a major part of their diet. I often feed my surplus Daphnia to my adult newts, they love it and it gives them some entertainment. If you are feeding primarily adults, I'd recommend D. magna.

 

[Niels D]

No problem at all. I would also feed them earthworms. They're easy to obtain and they're good chow for your little beasties.

 

[rasputin]

Thanks for replies!

I think I will try to start a Daphnia magna colony and see how it goes. I was going to try a worm farm for the Axolotls but my SO doesn't want one in the flat. Will have to try and find some outside!

 

[Niels D]

Farm bred worms aren't eaten as well as wild ones. After a while they get use to both though.

 

[rasputin]

That's goods to know!

In that case, I shall try the method of wetting the ground and putting something on top to attract the worms overnight. Thanks for the input!

 

[Niels D]

You can also use the pitchfork method. Stick one into the ground and tap against the stick. This only works when the ground is still wet after rainy weather. Look for a freshly mown lawn for the best results.

 

[suztor]

I had wondered the same thing. Aren't daphnia fast moving? I only have expieriance with them in middle school biology when we fed them to guppys, and they zipped around the tank with the gups chasing them.

Not to hijack the thread how big of a worm /worm piece can you feed these little guys?

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[rasputin]

Hey suztor,

I live in the UK which is wetter than most of the US I guess. As per usual, it has been raining in Plymouth. I have just gone out after reading the replies from Niels D and found a couple of earth worms from under a plant pot. They were a fair size, around 4 inches when elongated, and about 2.5 Inches when not.

I was going to see how much they would eat, by giving a whole worm to one of them and seeing if they were OK with it. Well I put the first in the tank and it fell behind Aristotyl who didn't seem to notice it. But Rasputin sure had and he came out from his "cave". I picked it off the sand and he snapped it from my fingers. He did wiggle about a bit but kept it all down and so did Aristotyl.

I didn't gut load them, as like I said, I wasn't sure if they were too big.

Both my Axies are about 7 inches long. Hope that helps you with your question.
They are such a cheap way to feed, and great food for the little guys so I will be doing it this way a lot more. Keep the lamb heart for special occasions!

 

[suztor]

Haha, it only sort of helps since I was actually talking about the worm size ideal for the cynops orientalis.

But that does give me a little bit of an idea.

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