Fire-bellys getting super agressive around feeding time

Some bitting and mild agression is very normal during feeding time in this species. It rarely becomes an issue, specially if all the animals are of similar size. I wouldn´t worry about it at all unless serious agression appeared.
I would strongly sugest to increase the water volume.
 
the water level should not be an issue. Mine have the same depth.

It's easier to give them food what get down to the bottom faster (or make it wet before adding to the tank). The newts are getting wild, cause of the smell, but can't reach it directly, so they will focus on the movement. Hand feeding by tweezers will also do fine.
 
They're like sharks having a feeding frenzy - it's quite shocking.
 
i had them in deeper water, and they didnt like it the spent most of there time on the land part but they went into the water when i lowered the water level.
 
:eek: Never watched this fact with this species! Unknown to what might happen, I've seen them exchange a bite or two, but the fight ever! Do as suggested Joost, because with my C.cyanurus resulted in perfection, and looks that are much more aggressive. Although exchange a bite or two, but the fightings are over! ;)

cheers
 
I noticed the fire-bellies at my local pet store acting the same way during feeding time with the toads they are paired with. I felt bad for the toads :( They never bite back!!
 
I´d still recomend to increase the water level.
In the video, you can see a layer over the surface of the water, which is the product of accumulation of protein derivates from bacterial digestion, which means there is decaying matter and not enough live plants or water volume to sort it out.
I wouldn´t recomend a water volume lower than 35-40l for three C.orientalis....otherwise maintaining wanter quality and stability becomes very difficult. Basically, the more water, the better...i strongly suspect there was something else behind them leaving the water when it was deeper, like stress, inadequate temperature or water quality, or that they were freshly bought.
 
More plants indeed. And a airstone against the 'oil'-layer on the surface
 
How often do you feed them? Reducing the volume of food while increasing the frequency of feedings may help with the aggression a bit.

For example, if you're feeding them 2 "cubes" twice a week, try reducing it to 1 "cube" 4 times a week.
 
Tweezers are good, but also consider distributing the food more, so it is spread out. They will be less likely to compete for the same piece of food that way.
 
The problem is not competition...the problem is frenzy xD
Anyway, as i said, don´t worry about it...with this species, feeding frenzy is so very rarely a problem....
 
We'll if you scatter the food around, they will find it at random. They are not going to get in a frenzy each time they find a bit. Its more natural as well, as when wandering around in the wild they would randomly come across a piece of food every so often.
I scatter food all around my tank, it keeps them occupied longer and makes them use more of the tank (plus it makes them more fun to watch!). However I dont think mine would have this aggression anyway though.
The only problem with scattering it is that some newts are greedier than others so will likely find and eat more, to help with this, tweezer feed some food to the smaller ones before scattering the rest.
Im sure there are more experienced owners out there than myself that feed differently, but I like this method and it works well for me.
 
RobM said:
We'll if you scatter the food around, they will find it at random. They are not going to get in a frenzy each time they find a bit. Its more natural as well, as when wandering around in the wild they would randomly come across a piece of food every so often.
I scatter food all around my tank, it keeps them occupied longer and makes them use more of the tank (plus it makes them more fun to watch!). However I dont think mine would have this aggression anyway though.
The only problem with scattering it is that some newts are greedier than others so will likely find and eat more, to help with this, tweezer feed some food to the smaller ones before scattering the rest.
Im sure there are more experienced owners out there than myself that feed differently, but I like this method and it works well for me.
Click to expand...

I find my Tylototriton verrucosis get in a frenzy seconds after food stuff unter the water, no matter how much I scatter it... I used to dunk frozen bloodworm cubes and let them to thaw in the tank, but the newt would become very aggro and bite each other tail, limbs, etc... while waiting for the bloodworm to slowly melt and make they way to the bottom of the tank, I now thaw the bloodworm in a cup, and use a beaster to deposit them at the bottom of the tank in little packets, they still get rowdy and some biting occurs but nothing like it sued to be.
Also I strongly concur on the tweezer feeding of smaller individuals, it is the only way to stop the big bullies to get all the good stuff :blob:
 
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I agree with spreading the food around; instead of putting it in one pile try putting it in two.
 
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