Feeding Blackworms

[trisha84]

I was recently at a pet store and was asking if they sold live food for newts and the salesperson informed that they do order in live food and told me that blackworms were an excellent food choice for newts. I live in Northern Ontario and have a hard time finding live food for my newts and was feeding them earthworms just out of the garden,until it became too cold and started to snow. I tried feeding them the big worms that are available at bait shops, but they were just too big for the newts. So my question is this - are blackworms a good staple diet for newts?

 

[jewett]

I think black worms are a great staple food item for newts. My adults always ate them readily and my larvae and juvenile animals seemed to grow very well on them. The worms do require some care, however - I rinse my black worms out each night to keep them fresh. Here's a link to an article on Caudata Culture to learn more (scroll down a little to get to the black worm info, though the whole article is good and helpful): Caudata Culture Articles - Worms
Best of luck to you,
Heather

 

[trisha84]

All the info I read was really helpful. I will be ordering some live blackworms for my newts now. They really enjoyed the earthworms throughout the spring-fall months, so I hope they like blackworms. They are currently being fed some pelleted food, but do seem to be refusing to eat it. I'm just hoping that the blackworms are available all year round where I am.

Take care,
Trisha