P. Waltl ill after over eatting

[Infinitii]

I have two P. Waltl newts, both around 17cm long, which I've owned for about a month. I feed them on earthworms every two days with bloodworms once a week. My male usually takes three worms each feeding but I've given the female seven before and she's still been pawwing at the glass for more.

Two days ago the male didn't eat his share of worms. I should have taken them out but the way she was going after them I worried that maybe I'd underestimated how much a female newt needed to eat. They were all consumed well within fifteen minutes. I came in an hour later and two had been thrown up and she was floating but was soon sitting in the plants so I decided to leave her. Yesterday she was still floating, happy enough to swim all over the tank when I tried to net her so I don't think she is too bad, but I'm worried giving her too much food might have done her damage inside.

I've put her in the fridge in just enough water to cover her and checked this morning. She'd chucked up some chunks of worms.

How long should I wait before putting her back in the tank? Should I hold off feeding her until I'm sure she's stopped throwing up? How many worms should I be feeding to make sure this doesn't happen again?

 

[misslyss]

Wow, seven earthworms in one feeding seems like a lot for one newt to handle. How large are the earthworms and how big are your spanish ribbed newts, particularly the ill one? I wouldn't feed her while she's in quarantine, give her a few days to digest all that food.

 

[Dave1812]

Hi, I would reduce the feeding of worms down to twice a week, and would consider offering things like mealworm (crush the heads), mini-mealworm, waxworms. I hand feed mine so that I know what each newt has consumed.
What sort of substrate have you got in your set up? It could be that the newt has swallowed something along with the food.
Have you got an update for us?

 

[Azhael]

Mealworms are a very poor choice, i wouldn´t use them at all..not much of a point. There are lots of things that are far better!

 

[Mac Myers]

Mealworms and waxworms are like cheesy poofs. Tasty, but nutritionally lacking. Zophobas are better... but still like cheese fries. They also can make it harder to feed nutritionally complete foods because.... be honest... would you rather have cheesy poofs or a salad?
The only worm that is really worth the effort is that of the Earthen variety.

 

[Azhael]

I have to disagree about the waxworms, they are not as bad as mealworms. Granted, they are not complete and should be used with care, but they are a nice complement to a healthy diet (unlike mealworms), and very useful for picky eaters or underweight animals.

 

[Mac Myers]

Noted and point taken. I always avoided them in my previous keeper incarnations unless I was trying to put weight on an animal... but Azhael is correct...plus they are softbodied. I keep mixing my reptile knowledge with my lack of Caudate knowledge.

 

[CherryBlossom]

I tried mealworms for my newts... just because I'm fairly new to all of this and wanted to try all kinds of beasties for them. I hated the mealworms. They were so difficult to pick up and were horrid esp when I tried to cut them up for them (these bad boys were huge and I was worried the newts would choke on then!!) hahahaha! I like feeding them the wax worms though for a tasty treat once in a while. But my newts love earthworms

 

[Dave1812]

Just to point out that the main diet of my newts is earthworms and the others stated are occasional foods.