Something I saw but couldn't believe (A newt ate a plant)

[eldaldo]

I was watching my karelinii yesterday, and I saw one swim up to some floating salivinia and chomp down on it. At first I thought that she thought the roots looked like blackworms or something and would soon spit it out, but it was attached through the "rhizome" to a longer string of salvinia and she started thrashing it the way that they do when they try to get down a worm that is too big for them. When she broke it off, I thought she would then spit it out, but she didn't, she swallowed.

Now, I remember a long thread on this forum about how newts don't eat plants, and I believe that the conclusion that was reached was that the only time a newt will eat a plant is when it eats it accidentially during feeding on something that they do eat. So immediately my mind went to the fact that my newts have been laying eggs and thought that perhaps there was an egg on the roots. But, I didn't see an egg when she first went for it, and I have been keeping very close watch on all the plants in the tank and removing any eggs when i see them, I have never seen any on salvinia. And, furthermore, I have seen my newts grab ahold of plants while they were feeding before and once they have gotten what they want, they spit out the plant, and this was a big plant (several "pads"). I cannot understand why it wouldn't spit out the pads if it weren't trying to eat them. Needless to say I am kind of confounded by this and will certainly keep my eyes open for any more herbavore behavior. This might however explain why my salvinia is dying, haha!

 

[ravenous]

I believe I read newts eating plants was bad! I saw one of my new morphs do this, it was a decaying leaf and I had no idea why he did it. Needless to say this newt got fat and ended up dying. I dont know if the plant contributed to it but I had read plant decaying in a newt stomach gives them gas and they can either pass it or struggle through it.

 

[onetwentysix]

I've heard that eating plant material can sometimes lead to compactation, which I'm guessing is why your animal died.

I don't know why the newt would have eaten the salivinia. I know that plant material has been reported as food in some species of siren, but that's not <i>Triturus</i>. I know that in duckweed, there are frequently small invertebrates disguised as duckweed, and there are a number of animals such as caddisfly larvae that use plant material as camouflage. Maybe it was eating something like this, though I doubt it.

You may want to keep an eye on your newt in case something is wrong or compactation does occur.

 

[Jennewt]

Interesting observation. I think there's a very good chance that the newt was eating an egg, perhaps a newly-laid one. Once they learn to eat their own eggs, they can become quite efficient at it. I doubt that the plant material will cause any serious digestive problems - karelinii are pretty tough.