Terrestrial Food

[amazon]

I have 7 Terrestrial Red Spotted/Eastern newts, and I was wondering what would be the best food for them. They aren't very interested in dead food, and I am going to try out pinhead crickets. I hear that fruit flies are a favorite of them, do you buy them and put them in the cage? Wouldn't they fly away? Also, are caught bugs good for them? Any suggestions would mean a lot.

 

[rob]

Hey,

you're definatly on a posting frenzy!

Yes, normally fruit flies would fly away, that is why over the years they've been bred with genetic defectsthat either make them wingless, or have wings that do not form properly for flight (also called Vestigal Winged).

I feed my terrestrials fruit flies, pinheads, white worms (small worms that are about the dimensions of a sewing needle) and such.

You can raise your own flies and worms, with types on how to culture them found on many sites. Just do a search on yahoo for White Worm Culture or Fruit Fly Culture, or email me sometime and I'll let you know.

Rob

 

[amazon]

i've tried to feed them chopped up earthworms that i found, but it just gets so messy, guts everywhere, etc. do i dangle one of the hearts in front of them, or what?

 

[rob]

Hearts? Do you mean the worms? Yeah, you can try dangling them, or you can try placing them on a clean place for them to find them. Most of mine eat from my hand and from hunting, but I have two guys that REFUSE to eat from my hand. If I put it in front of them and leave it for an hour though they eat it.

The fruit flies and pinhead crickets you'd just toss in and let them hunt them down.

 

[amazon]

thanks. i realeased some small crickets in their cage (my pet store doesnt stock pinheads, so i bought the next smallest size) and they're going crazy trying to catch em.

 

[sarah]

One thing you want to watch for with the crickets is that you don't put too many in there. If your newt can't take 'em out in a reasonable amount of time (an hour or two) try to take them out until the next feeding time. Newts on land do not move particularly fast, and sometimes while hunting stay still for long periods of time. Crickets BITE! They will crawl up onto your newt and bite him! If you MUST leave the crickets in there, put some food for them and a small dish with a sponge so that they can eat and drink, that way they will not drown themselves as often in the aquatic area and will be less likely to harass your newt.

 

[amy]

hey! my eastern newt can never decide whether to be terrestrial or aquatic. When aqutic he gorges on bloodworms and brine shrimp, but when terrestrail he is not interested in anything I offer him, except the occasional cricket. i buy in 1st and 2nd instar brown crickets and gutload them. He seems to quite like these, but won't take anything else. Hope this helps!