Questions about FB newts

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FBnewts

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I bought 4 juvenile "fire belly newts" from the pet store a few months ago and I am having some issues finding answers to a few questions. I am unsure what kind of fire belly newts I have, they have smooth skin and pointy tails (conflicting descriptions to what I have seen in ID guides). They are currently 4 to 5 inches long and pretty skinny. I haven't noticed lots of growth but I know they develop slowly. I am currently feeding frozen bloodworms and have a dish of pelleted food available (although I am not sure I like that food for them). I did have anacharis in the tank for a long time but am having a very hard time finding it in stores around me lately. Anyways, back to my questions. What is lowest temperature they can safely live in (the room I would like to keep them in is unheated but connected to the house and I live in minnesota)? Also, what other foods can I offer? All the crickets I can find are a little too big and make me worry about choking and I can only find info that says to feed bloodworms and crickets. I just can't believe a diet consisting only of bloodworms can be a complete diet.
Thanks for the info! :happy:
 
Odds are you have C. orientalis and I would be totally surprised it they weren't but just in case is there any way you can post pictures of them?

My group is currently at 51F and I have had them down to the upper 30's and lower 40's with no visible stress or complications, but just to be safe I would stick to the upper 50's.

Your right, a diet consisting of nothing but bloodworms isn't complete. A diet that consists mainly of earthworms and occasional bloodworms would be best. For instance, mine are feed three times a week; they get bloodworms once a week and worm chunks the other two times.
 
Ok, thanks! I moved them to a room that is connected to our heating system so they will stay around the 60's. Thanks for the tip on the worms- I will try to hunt down some worms. I assume I must chop these to bits. Is it safe/not too polluting to feed cut up earthworms in the water? my newts aren't fans of eating on land... I could put a little water in a dish and the worm pieces to keep them from drying out if it will pollute my water too much.

Also, will try to take pictures of them but 1. my camera stinks 2. they are very small 3. I don't know if I have anything that's glass to take a picture of the belly through and I know they are too wiggly to stay still for a picture.
 
Feel free to feed your newts the worms in the water, just remember to remove the uneaten bits after a couple of hours to prevent fouling your water. Cut the worms into chunks that are no wider than the newts head. As for places to get worms you have a few options on where to get them. You could try the local gas stations (they usually have bait worms), dig up your own as long as they are pesticide free or just go to your local Wal-mart (they have them in the sporting goods section).
 
You could still try and take a picture of your newt from the side; your camera should pick them up if they are 4-5 inches (use a macro setting if you have one).

As for feeding worms; people use a jar and put the food in there and then remove when it's finished. I have a feeding bowl in the corner of the tank; I just stick bits of food in there and remove what isn't eaten later; it's dead easy and really clean. I originally didn't have a feeding bowl but it would have been impossible to get everything out of the gravel without a bowl. Ok I still drop bits and pieces when I'm hand feeding but it's way less than leaving a pile of food on the gravel.
 
I have also had luck with daphnia(live and frozen) but It is small so you will have to use alot


chris:wacko:
 
I agree - more than likely Cynops Orientalis. C.O. appreciate cooler water temps. My tanks are whatever room temp is - which is usually cool. Only in summer do I worry about the water temps getting too warm.

I feed my C.O. frozen, rinsed bloodworms and tiny, baby eartworms (which I harvest and also raise). I use food dishes. I never have to clean up as everything gets eaten (they get fed around 3 times a week). I do unplug the filters during feeding time so that food doesn't swirl around in the tank.

I also quit using gravel in all tanks - fish tanks included. It is tiring keeping it cleaned (vacuuming) and besides it gets covered in algae eventually. I found that I like the appearance of a bare bottom tank better. I put aquarium pic backing underneath tank for interest. Different size rocks are scattered around while some are used to create caves and different climbing levels. I collect beautiful rocks and scrub/boil them to disinfect them before adding to tank. Plants can be anchored throughout the rocks as well as "planting" them in small containers which are then filled with river rock to weigh them down.

Glad that you found this forum. You will learn everything you need to know. There are a lot of old timers here with lots of education and experience.
 
Abrahm- I got them at the pet store in Har Mar, in Roseville. I was unable to find anywhere that could order them/get them. I generally hate that pet store for the horrible conditions they keep their other animals in but I had few choices.

Also, I found frozen white mosquito larva (aka white blood worms). Would this be ok to feed? I don't know if it would be worth it since there might not be much nutritional difference between that and red blood worms. Also, what about krill? that is very available in frozen packs here and seems to be a good meaty feed but I haven't heard it being used with newts... obviously I would need to cut up the pieces and be selective about which parts I use (their legs usually end up floating around, at least they did with the salt water fish I fed them to).

And finally, does anyone here offer crickets? I was kinda waiting for them to reach the correct size before feeding crickets. Also, what do you guys think about pelleted diets? they just seem to be too far from natural to be healthy (with binders and grain products and what not) I am worried about how digestable they actually are.

Will work on the pictures... have to find where the husband put the camera first.
 
I don't think c oreientalis eats crickets because they bite and they have a hard-to-digest shell
 
Crickets are OK, as long as they are SMALL enough. Most pet shop crickets, even the "small" size, are usually too large for orientalis. I have to special-order pinhead and really small crickets from a local pet shop.
 
Oh yea,Sorry i was thinking of meal worms:eek:
 
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