Fire bellies not eating !

[niels]

Hello !
I have a problem with my fire bellies (3 juveniles) !They do not eat anything !
I have tried all kinds of frozen food -live larva and living bloodworms (cut into pieces)!they stay on dry land all of the time, therefore it is quite difficult just to put the food in the water - They have not eaten anything for weeks now and i wonder what to do - Any suggestions ?
THANKS - NIELS CHRISTIANSEN

 

[benjamin]

Try feeding them land food. Juveniles are very bad swimmers, put them in a tank with much less water and more land.

 

[niels]

Yes i`ve tried earthworms but they still don`t care !!

 

[niels]

hm...

 

[leanne]

Try crickets----pinhead crickets?

 

[niels]

OK -but crickets are quite big aren`t they - my firebellies are small - 4 - 5 - and 6 cm !

 

[benjamin]

sounds like your fire bellys are almost adults. I find that males are usually about 6cm, while females can be anywhere between 4 and 9. It seems like they should actually be reintroduced to the water at this point, I know I'm contradicting my earlier statement, but now I say get rid of all the land, your newts must be much older than I thought. Set there aquarium up so that they have some areas of really shallow water, enough for their backs to be exposed while the stand (on all fours) in it. Make the rest of the tank about 4 cm deep and fill it completely with dense elodea, though leave one spot free of plants so they can feed with out accidentally getting plants in their mouths. Once they are in the water they will be able to smell any blood worms or earthworms you put in there. Eventually the newts will start hanging out in the deeper water then gradually increase the water level over a period of months to about 12+ cm. After you're sure your newts have reached adult hood you can try reintroducing land but if any newt tries to go terrestrial replace your island with tiny area of shallow water.

 

[jesper]

Hi,
I do not agree that the juvies are bad swimmers.
It might look that way if they are terrestrial since they often float and are panicked when put into water. Orientalis can be really hard to feed before they feel secure. Have you tried mysis?
Mine are also terrestrial, but I know they go into the water to hunt at night. So I usually put mysis in and the next day it is gone. I am going to wait for them to enter the water by themselves... Forcing newts into water has worked very poorly for me.

 

[niels]

I will try Mysis -
Thanks

 

[benjamin]

I've never forced a newt into the water either, I just posted a method demonstrated on caudata culture. This summer my male (adult) went terrestrial, but he came into the water once a week (very reliably on fridays) to eat his food.

 

[leanne]

Niels, the pinhead crickets are very small crickets---if you are lucky to find a pet store that carries live pinheads you might try that route for part of their food source.

 

[niels]

ok -I will try that too - thanks !