New Newts and a Tiger Salamander

Umm, quick word of advice, never use the Backyard Safari enclosures. I've seen insects and a chorus frog get stuck in between the plastic water section and plastic substrate. You're better off making a homemade semi-aquatic tank instead
 
This is what I did! It's an old Rubbermaid box with holes drilled in the lid. The size and shape look ideal or close to it (See my pictures in the first few posts of this thread.) but I probably need to set it up differently. If they are still alive this weekend I'll set it up so half of it is under shallow water and give them those ReptoMin sticks and frozen bloodworms in a separate part most of the water stays fresh. I'll also distribute the moss so some of it is over dry land and some is over a swampy area.

As for the Backyard Safari enclosure, that could be why I pretty well got it for free, and it's still in its original packaging. The guy sold me four critter keepers and it for only $15. The critter keepers look like they cost $25+ each.
 
I checked them today wondering if I would find them dead but they actually looked a lot better than they did the other day. They were at the edge of the water dish and moving around instead of buried under the moss. I put some frozen bloodworms and a few ReptoMin sticks in a small shallow dish and I'm hoping they will eat.
 
It is unlikely that they will eat the Reptomin sticks or even the frozen blood worm.Instead offer small cut earthworm ( about 1cm long) white worm, woodlice.. have a look in the garden under rocks, plants and wood and you will probably find them some lovely food. Small moving live food wlll more likely encourage them to feed.
This list will give you an idea which live food is suitable. Caudata Culture Articles - Food Items for Captive Caudates
 
OK, ? for you, Julia, and anyone else interested: How do they eat these things? Do they swallow them whole, like my tiger salamander does with hornworms, or do they chew on them? If they are swallowed whole, the grubs or whatever I dig up from the backyard would need to be extremely tiny, much smaller than what I usually see. I'd be more concerned that the grubs I see would eat the newts.
 
I agree with Julia - it is very unlikely they will eat the Reptomin sticks. Do you have any bait shops around? If so you can purchase fly maggots ("spikes") and see if they will go for these, as small, live foods are going to be your best bet right now. Some people have had good luck feeding newly metamorphosed newts on the critters that live in and around compost bins. Take a look at this thread: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...-live-food-little-terrestrial-metamorphs.html

Also, have a look at this article: Caudata Culture Articles - How to Feed a Large Worm to a Small Newt It's not easy to get starved, shy newts to start hand feeding but I think you had best try in addition to trying the small live foods. It may also be a good idea to look up any local tropical fish clubs in your area to try and obtain a culture of white worms. You can also try small crickets (you may need to incapacitate the crickets by removing legs), fruit flies, springtails, etc.

Best of luck!

HJ
 
OK, here is the latest on these critters. Both the salamander and the newts are doing OK. I've been feeding the salamander a medium size hornworm every weekend which he eagerly gulps down and a few mealworms during the week. Is this enough? He doesn't appear to be suffering at all except for often trying to climb up the glass.

Last Saturday I did a major change with the newts which appears to be for the better. I got rid of everything in the box and filled it half full of water then set a thing from PetSmart in it which is like an island. I put two cubes of frozen bloodworms in the water and another in a part of this island where they would stay separate from the water.

I found the newts would swim but kind of panic for a bit when they got to the side of the box. Eventually they would find the island and get on it.

This morning I checked and found them on the island moving around, and it appeared as if the bloodworms had been eaten or somehow disintegrated. I put another cube in the water and another in that part on the island.

How often should I change this water? Is there a specific temperature range it should be at? Should I have anything else in the setup?

I gave their water dish to the salamander. I'm wondering if I should also use what he had before on the other side of the terraium. When I checked this morning he was wallowing in the water which he had made a mess with pieces of the moss.
 
It sounds ok, but there are two major things to address. Firstly, did you give the water a chance to cycle first? Because when they poop or don't eat food and it goes to waste in the water, that could produce large amounts of ammonia which could kill the newts. For now, either leave them on a land based setup or do partial water changes and quality tests every day to make sure the ammonia doesn't build up Secondly, hornworms are somewhat fatty (Correct me if I'm wrong about that) and meal-worms have a tough exoskeleton that is hard for the tiger salamander to digest. Try looking in a fishing store for Canadian night-crawlers, as they are highly nutritious, easy for the tiger salamander to digest, and easy to feed/buy. Here's some articles to start helping you: Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling Caudata Culture Articles - Food Items for Captive Caudates Caudata Culture Articles - Nutritional Values Caudata Culture Articles - Worms Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tiger salamander Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly
 
Cycle?? I just dumped the water in. :) I did use spring water because I figured it is a bit more natural for them. As far as poop or ammonia, that is why I asked how often the water should be changed. I also got a filter intended for aquatic reptiles but I haven't used it yet because I didn't want it to suck up the bloodworms I had used.

Would "superworms" work better for the salamander, and maybe two leopard geckos I already have?
 
If you've moved them to a more aquatic set up, blackworms or tubifex worms work really well. They are the staple I use for my newts, they wiggle around alot which triggers feeding and stay alive in water longer so as to not foul up water quickly. You should be able to find them at aquarium stores or pet stores if you ask around. Adding some live plants also would help stabilize water quality by sucking up waste chemicals. Java moss, java ferns, frogbit, elodea, anything like that would be great if you can provide lighting. Although I believe java moss does well even without much lighting.

For now do the partial water changes as has been suggested already by others and be sure to get rid of any uneaten food quickly.

I might hold off on putting the filter until someone more experienced can comment on because I don't think they're generally used for this species and might not work well.
 
The super-worms are again more of an occasional thing, as they're fairly large and like the meal-worms are hard to digest. Again, why not try earthworms? If you can't find any for sale, why not try getting some from outside during rainy weather? And cycling is to make sure the water quality stays stable, for instance, newt droppings and uneaten food when it decays/sits in the tank produces ammonia. Ammonia in large amounts can kill animals or otherwise harm them. You have to wait until a type of bacteria eats the ammonia to become established in the tank, and wait for a second type of bacteria to eat the nitrite produced by the first batch of bacteria. Again, here's an article explaining it: Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
 
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