Larvae not eating or moving much

harleyquine

harleyquine

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Hiya,

I've currently got six hatchlings (they're four days old) and more on the way and am a bit worried that they're gonna starve to death. They stay in the same place for hours on end (have prodded them and they move then) so they're not dead.. anyways I put in some newly hatched brine shrimp.. at least I think they're hatched, and the larvae didn't move a millimeter. Is this normal? and how can I possibly make sure they're eating when their food is so small and so are they? pfft. Hope they're alright :) Thanks in advance.
 
My Cynops pyrrhogaster larvae only started eating after about 5 days or even longer after hatching. They didn't seem very much alive at first either.
Keep giving them brine shrimp and wait for them to start hopping. The food needs to be in a good concentration because they're rubbish hunters.
Good luck!
 
Hiya,

Good to know they're a bit slow to start eating. The brine shrimp eggs I have say to have a liter of water, one tablespoon of sea salt and half a teaspoon of eggs, would they still hatch if I stuck more eggs in? Can't seem to get a decent amount of brine shrimp :/
 
I'm also finding brine shrimp a nightmare. My "recipe" says 1/2 litre water + 3 teaspoons salt. I have shelless hatching ones.
Some people say it shouldn't be iodised (is that the word??) salt and some add a pinch of baking soda to make the water harder.
I can't give any advice but here's some links:
Brine Shrimp Resources | Artemia Cyst Hatching Instructions
http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~davidr/discus/articles/artemia.html
Wayne Schmidt's Brine Shrimp Hatching Page
Increase your brine shrimp, Artemia salinas, hatches with pictures

...and of course search this forum :happy:
 
Why not start feeding them Daphnia? They will live much longer in fresh water, and will even reproduce, so the larvae can feed on the newborn.

The larvae won't eat for the first 5-10 days (depending on temperature) and will get nutricions from their yolk. This will disappear within some days, and that's the time they'll become more active and will be hunting for live food.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. My babies are still not eating or moving around much, but still alive so am just hoping they'll get on with it soon and start munching away. Some of them are looking quite well developed already so would hate it if they died of starvation :/ Think I'll go hunting for a good pond and see if I can get some wee beasties from there.
 
Just realised that the stuff I got from the pet store (they said the larvae will eat this) is frozen moina, is that the same kind of stuff as daphnia? will this contribute in any way to making sure my babies get big red bellies? *panic* lol whoever thought newts could be so stressfull, I keep worrying cos they're not hopping around or moving. Someone put me out of my misery :confused:
 
The larvae shall not eat frozen food. Just try some live food. Perhaps some larvae species can learn to eat frozen foods, but only in the latest stages of their larval life.
 
My older larvae like defrosted blood worms chopped into small pieces. Preferably served on a toothpick (they have feeding response to the toothpick now...) but they will pick it up from the floor as well. But it's only the fully 4-legged larvae.

I also have some microworms as a back up for the little larvae but I don't think they like them at all. I suspect the worms are too small even for the tiny larvae.
 
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You say I should just try some live food, but have done three attempts at hatching brine shrimp and they don't seem to be hatching.. but they're so small I have no idea. I think it's time to go raid a neighbours pond. Anything in particular I should be on the lookout for? Bear in mind I'm in Finland so I might not have your beasties here. Also.. sad news.. one of my hatchlings died :/ not from hunger I think cos it still had some yolk there poor wee soul.
 
OK raided the pond and found some beasties, not a clue if they're daphnia or not but there are small red ones going around the tank. My larvae seem to be going strong and growing all the time so they must be eating something. They're a week and a half old now. Have tried a new method of hatching brine shrimp so hopefully will get some of those too. Want some fat wee newt larvae :)
 
Good luck with the brine shrimp. Sometimes the cysts are no good so it might not be you if it doesn't work. I have found that you need to put loads in to get a decent amount of hatched BBS. If you look at photos in the microfoods article on Caudata Culture or some photos around the internet, it seems everyone hatcheries have very dark colour from a huge number of cysts. I think it would take a whole bottle of the decapsulated ones (Waterlife brand) that I've been buying. I have just started using regular cheaper ones and hope I won't kill the larvae with the shells if they get in. I might just be too paranoid but it does worry me :(
 
so will my 3 day old larvae be eating soon or no?... im quite worried.. also do they eat ants or woodlice?
 
It might be better for you to start a new thread. What larvae do you have? They will need some tiny live aquatic food - baby brine shrimp, daphnia, microworms, ostracods, copepods or something similar. I think a week between hatching and feeding is not unusual.
Check out this article.
 
Will be a good idea not to offer newts of any kind ants,if they do eat them it will probably kill them
 
Hello I have some baby mud puppy’s and I have two that are floating too much and have stopped eating since two days ago one of them is turning thin I am not able to get daphnia or white or black worms so I’m stuck with garden worms and maggots from my compost pile I am worried about the two sick ones I also have one with a broken arm from transport they where wild caught from a pool that was about to get chemical used I have had these little guys for about a week and a half they where doing amazing until yesterday when I did a hundred percent water Change and moved there tank to my window then all five started acting weird for a few hours then the two smallest ones kept floating and acting super weird I’m a first time salamander owner and I need serious help
 
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