Pre-thawing worms?

[Elliriyanna]

I am curious if I can pre thaw bloodworms for the week for my newts, Its much easier to do it all at once and have it all ready when I feed them.

 

[AeonMapa]

Thawed food should be fed immediately. It should never be refrozen either. Once frozen food is thawed, harmful bacteria will immediately begin setting in, so it's not a good idea to have it lying around for long.

 

[Elliriyanna]

I was thinking like thawing it in the fridge and just leaving it in there, would certainly make life easier to only have to do it once a week.

 

[AeonMapa]

Unfortunately I don't think a fridges temperature would be enough to keep thawed food fresh enough. Just think, would you thaw a piece of meat, leave it raw in the fridge for a week and still eat it?

 

[Kaysie]

Not to mention, food loses nutritional value over time. If you thaw it and left it for a week, they'd be half rotten and even more nutrient deficient than bloodworms already are.

 

[Elliriyanna]

well what do you recommend? I am having a lot of trouble feeding these guys, Bloodworms are not good enough, I can't chop earthworms fine enough and I am not sure they are eating pellets, I killed my culture of Blackworms ... Anything I am missing?

 

[Bellabelloo]

It is concerning me that you seem to be having so much trouble with feeding your newts. It should be very simple. Earthworms can be cut with scissors to approx 1cm lengths..( I use my nails ). You could rotate this with defrosted blood worm, this does not take long to defrost, get it out before maybe doing your spot cleans, glass wiping... gazing at newts etc :happy: When I occasionally use it, I defrost it in small pot with some tank water, drain and then feed. You are lucky enough to be in a country that has blackworm, get some more and try that again? You could feed live daphnia and bloodworm. Send an email/ pm to the person who sold you the newts and ask them what they fed them.

 

[Elliriyanna]

I have contacted the breeder, and maybe it should be simple but its not, The worms I have are just too big.

 

[michael]

I like to use the bloodworm cubes. They make less of a mess. I'm allergic to bloodworms. My opthamologist brings up every time I see her.

What salamanders are you feeding? Chopped earthworms, frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, and or salmon pellets should feed almost any aquatic salamander.

 

[Elliriyanna]

No salamanders, Orientalis newts I wonder if they are eating their pellets

 

[AeonMapa]

Newts are aquatic salamanders I keep seeing you say that the worms you have are too big. Maybe you should try and find smaller ones. You know it shouldn't be too difficult to find smaller earthworms, where are you currently getting yours? I know bait shops sell them at several sizes, and every time I have time to dig for some, I always find a variety from tiny thread like babies, to the monsters that you have. And even huge worms can be cut to tiny pieces. I sometimes make "earthworm chum" for my tropical fish tank which involves shredding an earthworm to tiny fish sized bites with some scissors, and they just love it!

It just occurred to me that regarding your desire to have a self-sustaining food source, you can easily start your own earthworm culture! I mean they won't exactly be living in with the newts, but it will still save you a lot of money, and you'll get baby worms which are quite easy to feed to the newts without chopping. There are many methods online, but it basically involves dumping a good number of worms into a large tub full of soil or shredded cardboard. Keep it well aereated and moist, and feed them with veggies and fruits. Soon they'll start multiplying and you'll have an eternal food source! I do this and I haven't had to buy food for awhile. Though I may have to since I seem to have exhausted the previous generation and I'm just left with tiny babies

 

[Elliriyanna]

When I think aquatic sals I think axolotls or unmorphed individuals

I get mine from petsmart because we have no bait shops.

I have looked into a culture of red wrigglers But I will have to wait til we move, I dont even have room for a 5 gallon bucket

How do you cut them with Scissors? My worms always wriggle out of my fingers.

 

[sde]

Cutting worms isn't always easy but using scissors sound like a good idea. I cut mine with a knife and it is rather difficult, for the same reason that Elli said. Cutting with scissors sound much easier. In my opinion a firm grip will help control them. But to be honest I couldn't really give you much more advice than that, because I have the same problem. -Seth

 

[AeonMapa]

Please note this will all sound quite insensitive to the worms, but they don't feel pain apparently and we do this as humanely as possible

You might want to try scalding them with boiling water to kill them first. Don't boil them just pour boiling water on top of them. Or to save your worms for later cut off a bottom inch as the worm will survive as long as 2 inches from it's head (the direction it crawls) exists. To cut the worm, you can leave it on the table and let it crawl. Quickly slip the scissors under its body and snip! A razor blade or craft knife works great for this. You'll then have a wriggling piece. You can either pour boiling water on it to stop it from moving, or hold it down firmly with tweezers and cut away.

Caudata Culture Articles - How to Feed a Large Worm to a Small Newt this article is the best and should show you exactly how to do it.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Hold the worm tightly with fingers or tweezers and snip. I personally do not blanch my worms as the wriggling segments attract the animals that you are feeding.
If it helps at all, I really dislike cutting worms.. I feel like some hideous serial worm torturer, but I want my animals to have a good diet

 

[evut]

I have a ZooMed Repti Rock plastic feeding dish, shallow with flat bottom, which I use to thaw bloodworm cubes. I put a piece of kitchen roll on it, bloodworms on top, put everything on top the aquarium where it's warmer so they thaw quicker, otherwise just leave it at room temperature. Excessive liquid from thawing soaks into the tissue. Take the bloodworms with tweezers and feed. If you have choice of bloodworms, try a different brands - some are quite large, some are much smaller. Make sure they are nice a red when you buy them (and feed them). I've seen a shop here selling them dark brown which means that they defrosted at some stage and were completely ruined.
I use this same dish as a "chopping board" for worms - hold worm with tweezers and cut with a knife. Bon Appetit!

 

[AeonMapa]

Hold the worm tightly with fingers or tweezers and snip. I personally do not blanch my worms as the wriggling segments attract the animals that you are feeding.
If it helps at all, I really dislike cutting worms.. I feel like some hideous serial worm torturer, but I want my animals to have a good diet

I know me too! I feel like some mass murderer! As much as possible I try and pick worms that my newts can eat whole so I just plop them in the tank, but the chopping is necessary at times, especially when turning the worms into fish food Very true about the blanching part, I've personally never tried it, just suggested it for ease of preparation, but wriggly worms are definitely more attractive to the newts!