Gut-loading whiteworm with natural carotenoid-rich food

[Ken Worthington]

Hi, I was wondering, has anyone tried feeding whiteworm that were cultured with a spirulina/paprika, for example, or any other colour-rich and nutritious additive?

Whiteworm seem so easy to culture and my newts love to feast on them if I let them, but apparently lack certain nutrients, I was wondering about their ability to process and transfer the colour-enhancing constituents to particular caudates.

I realise that if it were an easy and nutritional option, then I wouldn't need to ask in the first place !

Thanks, as always

 

[Greatwtehunter]

I feed my whiteworms color enhancing fish flakes. Whether or not this makes a difference in the newts coloring I don't know. I haven't tested it against the same type of newt fed on regular whiteworms.

I might actually try it this season just to see if it does.

 

[caleb]

I was wondering about their ability to process and transfer the colour-enhancing constituents to particular caudates.

If you really mean 'gut-loading' then it doesn't actually matter whether the whiteworms process the carotenoids- they just need to have it in their gut. That also means that they don't need to be fed it for long- just long enough to fill themselves up.

In theory, you could get much better results if the carotenoids accumulate in the whiteworms over a long period of time- this is why shrimp & daphnia can be such good colour foods- they accumulate carotenoids from their diet. It would also mean you wouldn't need such a carotenoid-rich food to start with.

I don't know if whiteworms can accumulate carotenoids- if they become increasingly red, pink or orange it would be a good indicator.

 

[Jennewt]

I did have pink whiteworms at one point, but I'm fairly certain this was caused by artificial food coloring in the fish food I was feeding to them. I switched to a different food and they are not pink any more. I suspect that whiteworms are unable to store significant amounts of carotenoids, so it really does come down to just gut-loading.

 

[Azhael]

If you want nice red bellies, go for Daphnia. Crustaceans are the best way to introduce carotenoids (and the right ones) into the diet. I very much doubt you will have any significant results with whiteworms, but hey, if you give it a try, keep us posted.

 

[Yahilles]

All of my cb10 Cynops/Hypselotriton larvae & morphs were fed mostly with whiteworms and grindals and their bellies were at least bright orange, no pale or yellow colors, so i assume that feeding the worms with carothene-containing foods work for the colouration.
I was forced to use such diet because i had no access to artemia, scuds or daphnia in any larger amounts. All i had was baby tropical isopods from time to time, bloodworms, and of course whiteworms / grindals.

 

[Ken Worthington]

Thanks for the replies

My little family love it when daphnia is for dinner! I realise that this would provide them with plenty of the appropriate carotenoids, but I wondered if sprinkling some spirulina or paprika on the pieces of the moist whole-meal bread that I feed the whiteworms is something that might be worthwhile.

I'll make a couple of seperate cultures of ww using the same substrate/conditions as my others, but with the added ingredients.
The aim would to be if there was any visible difference in the worms' colouration, (rather than the same in newts being fed exclusively on these diets).

And the end of the day, if both ww cultures thrive, then there's no harm in adding any, I'd imagine.

My use of the term 'gut-loading' and 'process' was indeed misleading
I meant to refer to a situation where the worms would both have an increased amount of carotenoids internally, and caretonoid-rich food present in their digestive system when they are themselves eaten.

I love these little projects :happy: I really didn't know how many things I'd have 'on the go' until I discovered the delights of keeping caudates

I'll let you know how I get on

KW