Your newt may look small and cute, but make no mistake, he or she is a hunter. Newts are carnivorous hunters, who in the wild seek fresh food every day to sustain their life. Newts are also much more intelligent than some of the other freshwater aquarium pets you may have. Pets like goldfish don’t know the difference between flake fish food and fresh live food. Fish will never refuse a meal just because they don’t move on the surface of the tank. This is not necessarily true with newts.

Many times certain newts, especially fire-bellied newts, will reject food that is not fresh. This is due to his hunter instincts. These instincts have kept newts alive for millions of years and cannot be easily overlooked. So what do you do if your pet newt isn’t eating the food you’re feeding it?

This is not a very big problem, if your newt is not eating the dry food you are trying to feed it, you should probably try fresh food. Fresh, live food is very likely to stimulate the newt’s hunting instinct and trap and feed it.

Here are some examples of some store-bought foods that a picky newt may eat. Try feeding your newt brine shrimp, bloodworms, tubifex, daphnia, or bloodworms. These types of pet supplies can be found at most larger pet stores. Here are some examples of newt food you can find in your backyard. Try to catch small insects, crickets, slugs or earthworms. These are creatures that most of us can find in our backyards.

So if your newt isn’t eating newt flakes or pellets, don’t panic, try some fresh food instead.