When im gone, what to feed fire belly newt ? Also how to tell if female or male ?

Question

A few days ago i bought a fire belly newt. He didnt want to eat since he was still getting used to his new habitat. Finally he ate for the first time today, but i will leave tomorow and will not return until Monday, so i will be gone for about 4 days. This week, I will leave some of the frozen blood worms in the water for him to eat whenever he gets hungry. Is this ok ? I dont want to do this since this gets the water dirty faster, but its the only thing i can think of. Ive tried putting newt pellets for him but he doesnt eat them and they end of sinking to the bottom. I dont want to buy crickets and leave them in there because he is to small to eat crickets and the cricket would probably drown since there is mostly water. What else can i leave in the water for him to eat when i am gone since i am usually gone every week ? Also how can i tell if its a male or female ? his tail is semi pointy.

Answer 1

My first recommendation is to get a pet sitter or a freind to come over.. pet sitters are fairly inexpensive and great!! call your local vets office and most often there are technicians that do petsitting!!
here are some facts for ya... good luck...smile..

Fire belly newts will take live insects including crickets, wax worms, and bloodworms. Make sure the prey is small enough for the newt to eat it. Some will eat fish food such as shrimp pellets, brine shrimp, or turtle floating food sticks.Because these animals are probably naturally insectivorous, a variety of small invertebrates can be offered. Small crickets (not much bigger than "pinhead crickets") and chopped earthworms should be a staple food. Before feeding them to any animal, crickets should be kept somewhere they have access to cricket food and water for at least 6 to 12 hours. I like Fluker's brand cricket food and water, but other brands are available. If you do not give these crickets a day or so to gorge themselves on cricket food and water, you will be feeding your newt an empty shell of protein. Earthworms should be chopped into tiny pieces (no longer than 1 cm). Tiny feeder guppies and tadpoles can also be offered as well as bloodworms and brine shrimp. Commercial 'food pellets' for newts, salamanders, and turtles can also be fed to your newts but they tend to have a lot of protein and/or fat in them. Each newt should never eat more than one small "newt pellet" each week. Never feed your newt anything that is bigger than half of it's head. You can feed each newt an amount of food equivalent to the size of a small pea every 2 or 3 days. If you keep more than one in a tank, you may have to separate them during feeding if you notice any fighting.