breeding live food

[snake kid]

as I might not have to wait for christmas any more for my new pet fire bellied newts (very happy) I should probably start cultuing my own live food of course I could always gett live food from pet shops the insect are not as good for reptiles and amphbians as ones breed by the owners

and not in sterile insect labs so could any one tell me how to breed insects

for fire bellied newts and also should have said this earliry but they like wax moths during the land stage right?

[Insect Direct]

kool :lol:

never fed the waxmoths to newts im just geussing but dont think theyd be quick enough to catch them, do u mean waxmoth larvae/waxworms i dont see why not but theyre tricky livefood imo

wingless fruitflies are good for the young (just morphed) and i also found the larvae a good food source, just put a lid (with no holes) on the fruit fly culture so they cant breathe and they all go up the sides and then open culture and scrape out with knife etc only thing with fruitfly is they escape and can end up all over the place i found

aphids will be around the garden soon, check rose plants etc

whiteworms are also good for feeding on land or in water once newts are abit bigger bloodworms in the wateraswell but may need to encourage them at first - get tweezers and hand fed at first as they like to see the movement

i think ive forgotten some other livefoods, im sure others will beable to help out also - maybe even start u off with some starter cultures, if u get stuck i should have all of the above going again in a couple off weeks

try the search thing uptop i think whiteworms and fruitfly breeding methods have been discussed b4, i gtg or ill be here all day haha hth

[Navarre]

I can give you a starter for daphnia and micro worms if you need it

Navarre

[alanmin4304]

They are keen on aphids when they are about. Not the grey hairy ones on your cabbages but the green or browm ones.

[snake kid]

thanks heaps but can any one help me with how to actually breed them

I know how to breed meal worms but Im not sure weather they like them or not

[Rebecca]

This site is incredible, hopefully it's ok to post info like this. My friend emailed it to me last night so have only looked briefly but I would imagine there's enough information to keep you going for a while

http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/W3732E/W3732E00.HTM

If I was you I'd take Navarre up on his kind offer so you can get good quantities of daphnia ready for your newts. Your fish will love the microwroms and daphnia also.

Good luck

Rebecca

[DantezGirl]

daphnia like the sunshine and warmth but not to warm so if you can find an old bath tub and put it in a warm place outside or a long tank rather than a deep tank that you can put by a window

just remember to keep feeding them GREEN WATER and let them build up for a while before harvesting so i reckon get some now and set them up before the newts ect arrive then you should have plenty

Worms such as white and earth worms are easy as well just add dirt a well aerated container and your away just remember to feed them and the newts ect love them if you practice and there small enough

Fruit flies are also quite easy if you buy them from BIOSUPPLYERS they come in a container so you can either leave them in there or you can remove them to another container just make sure to feed them slices of fruit like apple ect and don't forget to remove the leftovers

frozen blood worm is available at most pet stores or online and take a little practice for newts to get used to it just put a worm on the end of a tooth pick and wigggle it in front of the newts nose to stimulate movement you have to be patient and persistent with this one

Aphids never tried them so i can't say

water boat men never tried them either