Quick Question about rearing

[FireStar]

From what I understand, babies eat anything that moves (and fits in their mouths) and don't find food via smell.
When do they start hunting by smell?

A.K.A When can I just leave food in their tank and vacuum uneaten bits later vs having to wave food in front of their noses?

 

[layna]

When babies are first hatched to 2 weeks old you will find it easiest to feed them bbs, they move near the bottom of your tank and you babies should be able to see them and eat them, just do a water change a couple of hours after feeding.
Then 2+ weeks you can move them onto daphnia and these are freshwater so you just leave them in the tub until theyre all gone, then add more

Some people also feed various forms of microworms whilst they are little

 

[auntiejude]

You can do a simple test - put some defrosted bloodowrms in and see if they eat them! If they haven't after about half an hour you can assume they won't, but they need to be big enough to eat them in the first place.

In my experience it's about 3-4 weeks when they start to notice frozen bloodworm, but they still prefer live. Mine are now 6 weeks and I can't get them interested in pellets.

My own perosnal recommendation:
weeks 1 and 2 - feed BBS - axies up to 20mm.
weeks 2 to 4 - feed small daphnia and BBS - axies up to 40mm - starting to develop front legs.
weeks 4-8 - feed bloodowrms (live or frozen), daphnia, white worms axies 40mm+, back legs growing.
8+ weeks try small chopped earthworms, but keep on with the bloodworms etc. Try pellets. axies 50mm+, all 4 limbs grown.

 

[usafaux2004]

You can do a simple test - put some defrosted bloodowrms in and see if they eat them! If they haven't after about half an hour you can assume they won't, but they need to be big enough to eat them in the first place.

In my experience it's about 3-4 weeks when they start to notice frozen bloodworm, but they still prefer live. Mine are now 6 weeks and I can't get them interested in pellets.

My own perosnal recommendation:
weeks 1 and 2 - feed BBS - axies up to 20mm.
weeks 2 to 4 - feed small daphnia and BBS - axies up to 40mm - starting to develop front legs.
weeks 4-8 - feed bloodowrms (live or frozen), daphnia, white worms axies 40mm+, back legs growing.
8+ weeks try small chopped earthworms, but keep on with the bloodworms etc. Try pellets. axies 50mm+, all 4 limbs grown.

Quoting this so I can look it up once my babies hatch. Based on when she laid eggs (27th), they should be hatching around the 11th. I'll be out of the country until the 15th...

I've had my guys in relatively cold water (64-66F), and I did notice that it took them a bit longer than the caudata guide to start showing development, so I'm hoping to push their B-day at least a day or two.

I'm going on the assumption that once they start hatching they still have their yolk to eat for a day, so if they start on the 13-14th, I think I'll be good to come in on the 15th and start caring for them. I already have a family member that will start my BBS hatchery at the first sign of trouble (i.e. birth).

Now, once they start hatching, should I move those to a different container from the eggs, or just leave them there? Also, what happens with twins? Do they typically hatch together, or will once make the other go early/perish?

 

[layna]

It usually takes them 48-72 hours to consume their yolk sack so even if they hatched on the 13th you should be okay if you feed them as soon as your back
You can sometimes buy a type of daphnia that is very small and axies that are <2 weeks can eat these, but they are sometimes hard to find..oh wait i googled they are called 'moina' theyre higher in protein and smaller than daphnia

In the case of twins, both should hatch together and be okay, but youd just have to wait and see if both survive.
Id prepare a clean dechlorinated tub of water the day they were due, then when they have hatched, transfer them to the clean tub, you can use a measuring spoon thingy, or a brine shrimp net, or your hands if your feeling brave haha

http://www.livedaphnia.com/buy_live_daphnia_moina.html

 

[usafaux2004]

It usually takes them 48-72 hours to consume their yolk sack so even if they hatched on the 13th you should be okay if you feed them as soon as your back
You can sometimes buy a type of daphnia that is very small and axies that are <2 weeks can eat these, but they are sometimes hard to find..oh wait i googled they are called 'moina' theyre higher in protein and smaller than daphnia

In the case of twins, both should hatch together and be okay, but youd just have to wait and see if both survive.
Id prepare a clean dechlorinated tub of water the day they were due, then when they have hatched, transfer them to the clean tub, you can use a measuring spoon thingy, or a brine shrimp net, or your hands if your feeling brave haha

Buy Live Daphnia Moina

How long are their bags going to last for say...40 little critters?
Small / 200 - 300 count
Medium / 300 - 400 count
Large / 400 - 500 count (best deal)

 

[auntiejude]

I had 20 larvae at 20mm each get through 1000 small daphnia in a day... they are all piggylotls!

You can slow their hatching down by keeping them cool - I had eggs indoors(18-20C) that hatched at 13-17 days, and ones I kept outside (7-12C) that hatched at 21-23 days. So if you have somewhere outside at a lower temperature (where they will be cool but not frosty) you may be able to buy a few days grace. Twins hatch together - it's like cracking a chicken egg, once it's cracked all the insides come out.

Once babies hacth you need to move them to a separate tub. I added BBS at 24 hours, not much got eaten, but at 48 hours they started snapping at the BBS quite happily.

 

[layna]

I only tried raising 15 babies, and they used 200 daphnia in a week when they had first hatched, if you bought say the 400-500 now and set up a culture, they would start breeding before the lottles hatched

Its just an option for you haha, but little lottles do cost a lot!