Feeding P.hongkongensis morphs

[TJ]

It's been pure Hell getting these guys to eat (and still is!). I'm having some success, as seen here, but not much.

Most must be surviving on pinhead crickets and flightless fruitflies that I've been trying with them but haven't yet seen them eat. Only around three of the 15 survivors have eaten bloodworm fed by hand.

This guy has a belly full of around 8 worms -- the best eater yet! The one below it, however, showed no interest even after 10 minutes of worm dangling. I've had no success using tubifex, either by dangling or by placing small balls of worms in front of their mouths.

 

[TJ]

Once the hurdle of getting them to take the first bite is overcome, I've found the trick is to ensure that there is a worm or worms immediately tailing the worm being eaten (using pincers) so that the morphs will eat as much as possible in one go.

 

[jennifer]

I'm forced to conclude that you are a 3-armed person, Tim. How else can you photograph and feed at the same time??

I would suggest moving the ones that are willing to hand-feed into a separate tank. These are the ones that will probably do the best. My other suggestion is that they may be nocturnal. As I recall, my adult Paramesotritons were. Perhaps feeding in the evening, or with minimal light would help.

 

[TJ]

Hahaha...well, feet and toes come in surprisingly handy sometimes!

Thing is with these guys, Jen, they're very, very, VERY sluggish and don't wolf down meals like my C.e.p and T.marmoratus juvies -- leaving me plenty of time to snap away before delivering the next worm!

Good advice on separation. I've considered doing that to be able to distinguish which have been "handfeed-trained" aleady and which haven't -- but just hadn't got around to it. Will though!

By the way, I've practically succeeded in getting my latest batch (70+) of C.e.p morphs (most now around a month old), to switch from eating pinhead crickets & flightless fruitflies to hand-fed bloodworm. Spent well over an hour handfeeding them yesterday! Next step is to get them to eat bloodworm on their own from jam jar lids like my more mature juvies.

Yep, P.hongkongensis morphs may indeed be noctural (they certainly like shelter!). I feed them at night already under not-too-bright light conditions, but will see if I can get a better response with even less light.

I still can't figure out why I can't get them to eat tubifex off a flat surface (or even hand-fed) ...

 

[jorge]

I started to feed my hongkongensis morphs with tubifex and they became obstinate tubifex eaters. It was very difficult get them to eat chopped earth warms and blood warms.

 

[TJ]

Hi Jorge. I'd like to put a few questions to you if you don't mind:

* did you put little balls of tubifex in front of their mouths or try to dangle the worms?
* did you allow the worms to touch their mouths when attempting to feed or keep them at a very slight distance?
* how much time did you give each stubborn eater to eat before removing the worms?
* what kind of surface did you feed them on?
* did most of your morphs eat and survive to adulthood or only a very few?

My morphs tend to turn away if the food comes in direct contact with their mouth. If I try to feed them not on moss but on a flat surface, they tend to walk away from the food altogether. Last night I failed to get even one to feed after a half hour of dangling...

Thanks in advance!

 

[jorge]

Hello Tim,

I started feed them two weeks after metamorphosis. From beginning I put little balls of worms in front of their mouths keeping a little distance. They noticed a slight move of worms and attacked them. Some of them took warms directly from the pincers. Size of the balls responded to a half size of the morph`s head and I fed one ball twice a week for each. I usually fed them in the night under normal lighting in a large petri dish to keep a better control. One of them died up to now but they are not adult yet.
How old are your morphs ? They begin to take the food in a few days possibly weeks after metamorphosis. In case they initially refuse doesn`t matter.

Keep patience and good luck !

 

[chris]

My friend Richard Kingham got some hongkongensis morphs from a lady in west England. He keeps them in a propogator with the ventilation holes at the top open. He has one side well washed sharp sand and the other side dry compost. On each side there is a flat rock with a piece of cork bark on for hiding places. He keeps them dry, with a daily mist. His eat fantastically! He feeds them by taking a piece of rotted wood from his garden and banging it over a container. He removes any harmfull bugs and pours the rest in. They feed on small woodlice, worms, springtails, millipedes etc. His grabfood by chasig the bug and shooting out a tiny pink tounge about 3mm long. Maybe you should try bugs if you can get them and just leaving them to it, and watch how fat they are. His are light and dark brown paterns though.
Anyway, hope this helps,
Chris