FBN and mealworm

I wouldnt. Mealworms have an extremely hard exoskeleton for the most part which isnt easily digested and sometimes causes impaction. Also, mealworms arent that nutritous compared to blackworms, earthworms, bloodworms, nightcrawlers, etc. With earthworms and nightcrawlers you would have to chop them up.
 
Hey Jen, how would you feed them the chopped up worms? Would you just drop them in?
 
BlackWolf25 said:
Hey Jen, how would you feed them the chopped up worms? Would you just drop them in?
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If the newt is aquatic, yes, I would just drop in the pieces. If the newt is terrestrial, I would put wiggling pieces near the newt, or offer on a toothpick. The tail tip of the worm is especially useful, as you can cut it small and it still wiggles for a long time.
 
Jen isn't kidding about it wriggling for a long time,One of mine wriggled for about a week!
 
I tried feeding my newts mealworms once, I could never figure out why they wouldn't eat them.
Thanks for the info.
By the way, I feed them frozen bloodworms which they seem to like, a cube lasts about a day then they've finished it off. Greedy things. The cubes are quite large as well.
 
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How long should you leave the frozen bloodworms in the tank for? I got a heavily planted tank and I don't want the water to foul too much yet I still want to give the newts enough time to eat.
 
Hi, I have recently asked the same question to myself thinking mealworms are high in nutrition.
However I must warn you that although you may like to change diets of animals it is in the newts best interest to maintain a stable diet.

I must also say that if you have meal worms free in a terrestrial part of your tank (e.g a log) they will potentially turn into black beetles. These beetles are not only high in nitric acids, they are potentially agressive towards other creatures.

Hope it helped :D.

Also have you tried jam jar feeding your newts? If you're unsure of anything dont hesitate to ask.
 
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MaDsci said:
How long should you leave the frozen bloodworms in the tank for? I got a heavily planted tank and I don't want the water to foul too much yet I still want to give the newts enough time to eat.
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A couple of hours should be enough time for them to dine. I would certainly try to remove the uneaten ones within 24 hours.
 
Holding2k9 said:
however i must warn you that although you may like to change diets of animals it is in the newts best interest to maintain a stable diet.
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I don´t agree with this statement. Variety is always good. You SHOULD offer variety...
The problem with mealworms is that they are not nutritionally complete at all, and they are hard to digest(if used frequently may even cause impaction). It´s also recomended to crash their heads prior feeding because they can bite.

All in all there are far better choices than mealworms, so it´s generally adviced not to use them.
 
I'm having problems feeding my newts, they don't seem to want to eat the frozen bloodworms, should I keep trying to feed them it? How do you feed your newts?

I usually leave a cube of worms on a feeding dish in the aquarium so cleaning is a lot easier.
 
MadSci - it would help to have the whole story. Are these recently acquired? Are they aquatic or terrestrial? What foods have you tried (and do you know for sure that they are eating at all)? What foods do you have available?
 
I've had them for about a week. Now they are just starting to explore the aquarium a little more, before they would lounge on top of the plants also I prepared the aquarium before aquiring them so it's not like I just dumped them into non dechlorinated water. I offer them frozen bloodworms and thats all the food I have. I also have about 7 small rosy red minnows in the aquarium too which seem to nip at their tails sometimes.
 
I would strongly recommend removing the minnows temporarily, until the newts are acclimated. The presence of the minnows may deter the newts from going into the water more. And it will be a heck of a lot easier to feed the newts once they are fully aquatic. Also, the minnows are likely to gobble up the food you are trying to feed the newts, such as the bloodworms.

Have you tried to find live blackworms or live earthworms?
 
Jennewt said:
I would strongly recommend removing the minnows temporarily, until the newts are acclimated. The presence of the minnows may deter the newts from going into the water more. And it will be a heck of a lot easier to feed the newts once they are fully aquatic. Also, the minnows are likely to gobble up the food you are trying to feed the newts, such as the bloodworms.

Have you tried to find live blackworms or live earthworms?
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I'll give it a try.

Here in Vancouver, we don't have that many pet shops and all the ones that I've been to don't have live worms or live cultures. And the earthworms, I don't feel right digging them up straight from the ground and feeding them to the newts.

Also, how long do you think the FBN can go without food? So far I don't think they've eaten for about a week.
 
i leave the cube in till they eat it all(so not that long :p)
i put the cube on a small rock so it doesnt get into the water and they just simply climb on the rock.
 
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