Fed my Noto a trout worm... 6 hours later he died.

[ravenous]

Im pretty devastated at this. Earlier today I fed my notos and I had one worm first. Its not very big and I cut it in half. Gave one half to a full grown Firebelly and the other half to this tank. My largest adult, gobbles him up. 3 hours later I check them out and hes floating on top of the water with a huge dark red spot on his chest between the front arms. His chin is fat and his mouth is a bit open but hes alive and I figure struggling. I get home tonight to find him dead. The red spot is gone from the chest but now a lighter red has taken over his stomach and above the front legs. His chin is bloated/ballooned up.

I feel like **** over this because I love these guys and for the LIFE of me can never find these guys for sale or anything here on the site. They seem to be pretty rare. So I loved these guys. I dont know if its my fault or what. It was the last of the worms from the carton. Ive been feeding 8 newts from this carton and the other newt I gave the other half of that worm to is fine. Was the piece too big? Was the worm bad/deceased? Did he have some sort of attack? I dont know but if anyone has seen this happen before, but Im all ears if you can help. Im really curious what happened to my little guy

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Sounds like it choked on the worm. It could have been to long or to thick to swallow. If the worm is half swallowed and it seems like the worm is still in the throat and mouth of the newt then it seems like it choked.

I've had a newt choke and die on a worm before. It was obvious because the newt still had an empty looking stomach and its throat and chest area was enlarged. As far as trout worms go, some people refuse to use them. I know some people even blame trout worms/leaf worms for the death of their animals. Since your other newts survived I don't think it was a bad worm.

 

[EasternNewtLove]

He likely choke on it. I know how you feel, I fed one of my notos a worm once. I checked back later, he was dead. I felt awful too.

 

[ravenous]

Damn, I wonder if he did choke. The work wasnt that big and about normal size of pieces Ive given them before. Maybe he was anxious or something. Maybe I should have dissected him to find out but didnt.

Whats the stigma with trout worms? Why wont people use them?

 

[Jennewt]

I bought trout worms once, and I can't really remember why I didn't like them. Maybe some of my animals refused them, I can't remember. Do they have a funky smell when you cut them? Anyway, I stick with nightcrawlers.

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Damn, I wonder if he did choke. The work wasnt that big and about normal size of pieces Ive given them before. Maybe he was anxious or something. Maybe I should have dissected him to find out but didnt.

Whats the stigma with trout worms? Why wont people use them?

Seems like people have had similar things happen to them. Some newts refuse them or regurgitate them after eating. I've had Axolotls and newts regurgitate them and it makes the water cloudy. They'll even spit out the current eaten worms and meals undigested. Seems stressful.

Some people have no negative feed back the use of trout worms.

 

[areynoldssr]

Sometimes when you buy trout worms you have a few manure worms in the container. they have yellow bands around thier bodies. They let out a yellowish fluid that is distastful to most animals and sometimes contact between worms can leave that fluid on a trout worm. Thats why animals wont eat them, and people dont buy them.

 

[Dcerdeiras]

Does anyone know the species most commonly used for trout worms? It sounds like the name given by fisherman because of its size rather than species? My newt also rejected them, but I'm fairly certain they weren't manure worms.

 

[Jennewt]

Does anyone know the species most commonly used for trout worms? It sounds like the name given by fisherman because of its size rather than species? My newt also rejected them, but I'm fairly certain they weren't manure worms.

Good question! I bought them at Walmart. I agree, they didn't see to be the red wiggler (aka manure) type worms. They wiggled in a very characteristic whip-like way, unlike red wigglers.

 

[areynoldssr]

I buy mine at walmart too, and sometimes theres one or two in there. Most I catch but sometimes they get in the tank, and when that happens my squad gets unhappy.

 

[Alejandro]

Good question! I bought them at Walmart. I agree, they didn't see to be the red wiggler (aka manure) type worms. They wiggled in a very characteristic whip-like way, unlike red wigglers.

I think Jen is referring to the so called "Alabama jumpers".

 

[Infamous82]

My guess would be that it choked, I've had it happen feeding some newts floating sticks when i was young, and that's what happened with them. As for some people not using the red worms, they release a bitter tasting slime when threatened and some animals will refuse them or spit them back out. I had an axo and a siren that did it so I had feed them small pieces of nightcrawlers. I have never had a regurge or any deleterious effects from using reds, just some don't like the taste.