Questions about keeping firebellied newts

[barrett]

Hey there my name is Barrett I'm a brand new member so, a little info on me...I have 3 Chinese FB's and 2 African Dwarves in a 29gal 50/50 setup with Anacharis and java moss in the water and pothos and the dried pet store moss(very thin cover so they can get around easier)in the land portion. I've had them since May and haven't seen any problems with the adult newt and the frogs when there wasn't food present, which they tend to squabBle over a little. The 2 younger ones have never gone in the water but, my nitrogen cycle is very stable. I test for everything weekly and have no ammonia ever;PH is neutral and, I only do weekly water changes. I don't use a filter and I never clean the glass to promote bacteria and food for the snails . However, my questions are these:I am currently waiting on two more young newts so I can winterize them and hopefully breed them in spring, What are the chances of getting non-siblings from an order from my pet store? And Are small garden slugs good food for newts; I wonder about the slime they exude?And I have a worm farm going which I feed veg scraps and the pellets that are for the newts(because they don't touch them) but I only find aprox. one baby worm per month is this normal?

P.S. I hope to have some photos soon

 

[jennifer]

Additional newts from the pet store will almost certainly be non-siblings. However, you will need to quarantine them, as they often arrive with diseases.

Yes, slugs are fine if the newts will eat them. What kind of worms are you keeping? Some worms are adapted for worm farms, some aren't.

 

[barrett]

Thanks for the response. That makes me happy about the slugs. Concerning the worms I just added a more specific inquiry under LIVE AND FROZEN FOODS-NIGHTCRAWLERS, EARTH WORMS ETC.