Feeding parasites

[jesse]

hello everyone i have a friend that recently told me that she feeds her aquatic newts fluke worms. I dont know if this is kosher, but in my opinion this is not a good thing. what does everyone else think of parasites being fed to newts and sals. Personally i think they can be vectors for disease.

 

[kaysie]

feed your pets parasites? i'll just eat some tapeworms for dinner.

 

[edward]

Jesse,
Did your friend mean planaria? Both flukes and planaria are of the Phylum Platyhelminthes.

Ed

 

[jennifer]

Where does your friend get fluke worms? The blackworms I use contain some fluke worms (look like small leeches) and they seem harmless enough. As long as they don't parasitize newts, they are probably fine.

 

[edward]

Hi Jen,
They are leeches except that they feed on the blackworms.
Ed

 

[jesse]

no
she gets fluke worms and leeches from turtles and feed them to her newts

 

[janice]

I always wondered what those little white guys were in with the blackworms....my fish will eat them, but only when the blackworms are all gone. I thought they might be leeches; they look too big to feed on blackworms!