Question: Will crickets bite my newts?

[sde]

Hi all,

So, i put my thin and not eating male in terrestrial setup, and added crickets. On the package it said that i should remove the un-eaten crickets or else they may bite. Is this true? They setup is stacked wood ( rotting so there are lots of bugs in it ) with moss on top, its a 10 gallon. Anyway, so i wouldn't be able to remove all of them, and i need them in there all the time, so that he can hunt/find them whenever.

Do they bite? -Seth

 

[Dugnbeck]

I feed crickets to my yellow spotted sallies all the time. I have never seen that they bite. I know my sallies eat them like crazy.


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[sde]

Thanks for the reply and info man, it is much appreciated!

 

[Mark]

Crickets will chew on amphibians if they are hungry and there's nothing else to chew on in the enclosure. In a naturalistic vivarium this is less of a problem but it's still a good idea not to over feed.

If you are trying to feed up a sick or thin animal a naturalistic setup is not ideal as prey will be harder to locate. A simple enclosure where you can monitor what's being eaten and offer tempting goodies like waxworms right in front of the inhabitants face usually works best.

 

[sde]

Hmm, so....well I tried chopped worms ( the usual food ), I put him in front of a pile wiggling chopped worms, and he walked right over it. Then, later I tried putting the worms in front of him, again, he just walked right over it. So I didn't know what to do, someone suggested putting him in a terrestrial setup, so that's what I did. I didn't want to disturb him a lot, he is a shy individual.

Thanks for the info man. :happy: -Seth

 

[Mark]

If the newt is terrestrial place it in a small plastic tub with ventilated, secure lid. Use about an inch of damp topsoil as substrate and provide an appropriate sized hide. The hide is very important as the newt needs to feel secure. Feed at night with either chopped earthworms on a lid or waxworms. Leave it well alone and see if anything is eaten by the morning. If it was forced to become terrestrial it'll take a while to adjust. Picking it up or plonking food in front of it's face will probably make it more stressed.

 

[sde]

Ok, thanks man, i will do that.

 

[sde]

Ok, so i don't have a picture of the setup, but i will give a description. I done have a good tank for it right now, so he's in a about 5 gallon tub. The substrate is sand. I don't have any other substrate available. There is a watering bowl, a hide, and a piece of egg carton for the crickets. There is about 12 crickets. There is a lid from a container for me to put the worms on. The first day he may have almost killed himself. He lodged himself in-between the hide and the side of the container. Scared me to death. Hes ok though. Did not eat any worms. I will do a cricket count today ( i don't know why, but saying that makes me laugh ). I will add fresh worms today as well. Done. I'm out. Bye.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Pssssttt... take out the crickets as you count, they may well nip your newt .

 

[sde]

Hmmm, ok. How do people raise a ton of juveniles at once on crickets if they bite?

I will take them out. Thanks.

 

[Chinadog]

I don't think crickets would be 1st choice to raise juveniles, they really need dusting with vitamins to be a staple. I feed them to my older juveniles occasionally but only to provide variety in their diet and something for them to hunt now and then! Plus only the very smallest are any good for freshly morphed juveniles.

 

[Otterwoman]

I have lost salamanders to cricket bites.

 

[Mark]

Hmmm, ok. How do people raise a ton of juveniles at once on crickets if they bite?

I will take them out. Thanks.

The amount of crickets fed needs to be proportional to the number of mouths. I sometimes raise hundreds of newts at a time which means I can add hundreds of crickets all of which will be eaten in less than a minute. There are never crickets roaming around the enclosure.

Also, it's worth mentioning that some species or individuals are less able or keen to hunt fast crickets. For sick newts it's better to offer soft bodied, slow moving prey like slugs, moth larvae, maggots or worms.