I'm having trouble getting my red eft to eat. It's in a very humid enclosure with graded gravel forming a pool of water at one end and a dry area at the other. Over the dry gravel i put a small layer of top soil and mist it every day. There is a cave to hide in on the dry area and a piece of driftwood to hide under where the water meets the land. I have been trying to feed her fruit flies but she's very skinny and i'm not sure she's eating them. I'm thinking of chopping up a soda bottle lid of worms and offering them to the newt. Do you think it will eat something like that? How long do they take to get used to their surroundings? It never seems to leave the cave. Should i put the worms near the entrance or further away?
thank you.
melissa.
Reptile & Amphibian Forums
Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.
trouble with red eft
Replies (3)
Melissa, "red efts" are the land stage of the red spotted newt, these animals do best in a "woodland terrarium" type of set up with a shallow water bowl that the "eft" can easily crawl in and out of. I would nix the gravel and lower the humidity and keep the "eft" at room temperature, keep the hide, also these animals utilize leaf litter and should not be kept too wet or too dry (moist). Also flat rocks are used to conceal themselves as well. As for feeding them, they eat various invertebrates in the soil and also eat small worms, the most convenient source would be "bloodworms" from your local pet/fish store, these can be kept alive for long periods in your refrigerator and can be fed to your newt in very small globs dropped in front of him/her( about 1/2 inch away ), I have had them eat baby spiders as well, and any very small inverts I could find in my backyard, they should be very plump and most likely it is not eating, if you do not correct the environment and the feeding regimen I think your eft is going to perish. Hope this helps
-----
Frank Roberts
R&R Herpetological
Roberts'Realm of Reptile Research
Melissa,
This care sheet (link) might also help you:
Try putting the eft in a deli cup with some small earthworms for a while.
No dirt, no hiding spots, just the newt and the worms.
