Poll on amphibian feeding

[mmfh]

I'd feed frozen if I could but my newts will only eat live nightcrawlers. They are terrestrial and have never shown interest when I put thawed anything in front of them. I'd like to try silkworms to give them some variety but I'm not sure how nutritious they are.

 

[Aschneider8]

What type of fish for defrosted fish slices? I remember seeing a list, but cannot find it. Thanks.

 

[Niels D]

It's mostly earthworms here. My culture seems to have an endless supply of worms. I haven't got an extreme collection, but I've got over 50 adult mouths to feed which I do every two days. Other food items are cultured roaches, cultured white worms, tubifex, crickets, wc slugs, wc snails and other wild caught invertebrates.

Still I use pellets to raise T.dobrogicus and P.waltl larvae. I've got special aquatic newt pellets, but they were a bit too expensive (I'm Dutch) if you ask me. I've also used sturgeon pellets with succes. I never use frozen food.

 

[Chinadog]

I feed mostly earthworms but I also use frozen or live bloodworms and daphnia from time to time as a treat because my newts enjoy them so much. Also a good amount of live daphnia keeps them occupied for days searching through the plants etc!
I might give the expensive newt pellets a try just for variety, and also to give the worm population in my garden a chance to recover from my constant persecution!

 

[postiekeith]

where do you get your coarse fish pellets that you feed your axolotls ?
i have 6 indoor , and they dont seem to grow very much

 

[BwKilcoyne]

My Newrs get frozen bloodworms, frozen mysis shrimp, newt pellents, and sinking wafers. My salamanders get primarily crickets but also either superworms, mealworms, waxworms, or calciworms.

 

[Asevernnnn]

My Newrs get frozen bloodworms, frozen mysis shrimp, newt pellents, and sinking wafers. My salamanders get primarily crickets but also either superworms, mealworms, waxworms, or calciworms.

I would consider switching everything to chopped earthworm/nightcrawler for a staple. They're better nutritionally and theres always a risk of biting in feeding crickets, mealworms and superworms

 

[Ian T]

Which Newt pellets are you using...? I feed earthworms as a staple but am looking for a soft pellet which contains the Carotenoids needed for belly colour development. I do feed Daphnia etc for this purpose but as a backup this type of pellet would be useful. Any recommendations would be much appreciated....

 

[Chinadog]

Mark recommended Hikari Cichlid gold to me for colouring up my young C. pyrrhogaster. Apart from the small group I hand feed I couldn't get the terrestrial juvies to eat the pellets directly, but I powdered some up in a pestle and mortar and use it to gut load their worms and also I sprinkle it onto anything else I feed them. It seems to be working well already, so by the time they mature they should be looking nice and red like their parents.

 

[Ian T]

Thanks for the reply, I've tried Hikari sinking carnivore pellets which were also recommended by Mark in a thread on here. They're a hard pellet and only a couple of my newts will eat them. I think a soft pellet would be more likely to be eaten, I suspect the Cichlid Gold are also hard..? I have fed the pellets to whiteworms, I'm not sure how efficient that is but I guess it's worth doing from time to time. Would prefer a soft pellet though....

 

[BwKilcoyne]

I tried earthworms first, but none of them showed any interest in them, chopped or alive. The newts like bloodworms the most and the salamanders like crickets the best. The newt pellets I use are HBH Newt and Salamander bites. Only the axolatls seem to really like them though and the African dwarf frogs I have. I usually put just a few in to help round out their diet. They don't eat a lot of them though.

I would consider switching everything to chopped earthworm/nightcrawler for a staple. They're better nutritionally and theres always a risk of biting in feeding crickets, mealworms and superworms

 

[Asevernnnn]

I tried earthworms first, but none of them showed any interest in them, chopped or alive. The newts like bloodworms the most and the salamanders like crickets the best. The newt pellets I use are HBH Newt and Salamander bites. Only the axolatls seem to really like them though and the African dwarf frogs I have. I usually put just a few in to help round out their diet. They don't eat a lot of them though.

Do you know what kind of worms you tried, a lot of newts/salamanders dislike Red Worms/Red Wigglers, Ive had most success with chopped canadian nightcrawlers.

 

[Chinadog]

Thanks for the reply, I've tried Hikari sinking carnivore pellets which were also recommended by Mark in a thread on here. They're a hard pellet and only a couple of my newts will eat them. I think a soft pellet would be more likely to be eaten, I suspect the Cichlid Gold are also hard..? I have fed the pellets to whiteworms, I'm not sure how efficient that is but I guess it's worth doing from time to time. Would prefer a soft pellet though....

Yes, I think all Hikari pellets are hard. I also tried some Pollywog Axolotl/Newt pellets, It says semi-moist on the website, but they were rock hard and my pyrrho's wouldn't even look at them. My Koi liked them though!
I'm thinking about making my own pellets that I'll freeze instead of drying out. My friend makes his own frozen pellets as bait for carp fishing, so I'm hoping to pick his brains about a suitable base mix that I can add other ingredients to.

 

[Ian T]

I tried the pollywog pellets too and totally agree. I'm going to buy some Zoo Med pellets and see how they work out. Good luck making your own pellets, I've seen recipes on here involving blending crickets, waxworms etc in a food blender but there's just no way I could try that whilst remaining married...!

 

[BwKilcoyne]

I had tried to feed them nightcrawlers. The salamanders seem to like crickets the best because they are so active. I have a layer of moss on top of coconut fiber with a lot of hides so they never get overwhelmed by the crickets. I was pretty supeised they didn't like the nightcrawlers.

Do you know what kind of worms you tried, a lot of newts/salamanders dislike Red Worms/Red Wigglers, Ive had most success with chopped canadian nightcrawlers.

 

[Chinadog]

I tried the pollywog pellets too and totally agree. I'm going to buy some Zoo Med pellets and see how they work out. Good luck making your own pellets, I've seen recipes on here involving blending crickets, waxworms etc in a food blender but there's just no way I could try that whilst remaining married...!

Lol, I only do those sorts of projects when I'm home alone.

 

[Coastal Groovin]

What type of fish for defrosted fish slices? I remember seeing a list, but cannot find it. Thanks.

I use talapia, sunfish, and catfish. I generally feed my animals 4-5 time weekly. One of those feedings will be fish. You have to cut them small and mouth sized. I use a razor.

 

[Sith the turtle]

I am fully aware this is an outdated thread, (A very outdated one at that) but when I kept newts and salamanders, I fed them strictly live foods, mostly whole or chopped earthworms, and the occasional tweezer-fed cricket, waxworm, or mealworm, and I plan on doing the same once I own salamanders and newts again

 

[Providence]

:happy:Thank you so much for sharing this. I am new to Salamander and Newt's as pets. We found some in our Christmas Tree this year from a local home depot here in Southern California. I now have a California Newt and a Mole Salamander if identification is correct from photos on the internet? Today we gave them live baby crickets. I fed them whole earthworms and wondered why they hadn't ate them? I will try chopping them up. Any other suggestions appreciated. Until I purchase a permanent home (suggestions appreciated) I am keeping them in separate "Home Depot" orange buckets. I have placed rocks from Lake Havasu, CA, along with some sandy soil local to my yard in the buckets. I added chlorine free water too. I made it so there is a water area and earth area in the bucket. I also placed some of the Christmas tree trimmings in the bucket. My hope is to give them a good environment until I can build them a more permanent home. Also, I have no clue if they should be housed together or not? The orange bucket provides a red light heat affect from non direct sunlight from outside. I also place them under blue lights at night. Help from experts appreciated. :happy: :smile: I need to know if what I am doing is right or good for the animals and I need to know what is best when I create a more permanent habitat for them?

 

[PhilbertCoffee]

I feed my eastern newts about half newt pellets and half freeze dried tubifex. In the summer, I give them tiny worms as treats. If I have land stage newts though it is mainly tiny crickets from the pet supply.