Newts & Prepared Meats

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Posted by Wes von Papine�u on March 29, 1999 at 19:42:35:

In Reply to: both hot dogs and bologna have SALT, BAD!!! (Stop using processed meat.) posted by Thera on March 29, 1999 at 19:19:23:

Reposted from 26 Jan, just in case it m,ight be relevent to your situation.

NEWTS & BOLOGNA
As already stated, your first problem with feeding bologna, or any other 'prepared' meat (ie. sausages, franks, ham, etc) is that they all posses very high amounts of salt, spices and nitrates that are used in the curing process. Aside from salt, which newts avoid, none of these other 'chemicals' are generally available in nature; so the newts will have a very limited ability to handle bologna ingestion.
Second, newts are not used to a continuous protein enriched diet ... too much meat, regardless of it's source, could contribute to gout (sort of a combination arthritis, joint and kidney affliction) and rickets.
Last, a steady diet of 'soft' meats such as bologna would not provide the 'roughage' necessary to keep the newt's intestinal tract in good shape ... please remember, newts eat all sorts of hard little bug-like things in nature.
There is also a reference in an older book that too much feeding of meat can result in 'rectal prolapse' in frogs. I'm not sure if when can extrapolate between species; but why take the chance?
If I may be so bold, don't feed your critters any prepared meats. If you must feed meat due to a temporary lack of other foods, I have had some long-term (ie. 12 years+) success with sporadic feedings of raw lean beef, liver and heart... all treated with the appropriate vitamin & mineral supplement. Again, these meat feedings were secondary to the 'usual' food of bugs, worms, live fish and 'newt sticks'.
((By the way, if your newts won't take to 'newt sticks', try soaking the sticks in some fresh beef blood for 5 minutes first ... and then wean the newts off the blood by soaking the sticks for less-&-less time.))
I hope this helps more than it hinder you
Cheers,
(Gout reference from: Obst FJ et al. 'The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles & Amphibians for the Terrarium', TFH 1984, pp. 400 & 401)
(Rectal prolapse reference from: Reichenbach-Klinke, H. 'Disease of Amphibians', TFH, 1965 p. 362)

Follow Ups:

Yes, I had a bullfrog die because I fed him a steady diet of hot dogs and lunch meat :(.....(nm) Edfett 3/30/99 (12)
- Poor Bullfrog. He Croaked. No, really. Poor thing. ChrisCD 3/30/99 (11)
  - Yeah, I was pretty bummed out about it...Ask me sometime about how I accidentally killed a newt(nm). Edfett 3/30/99 (10)
    - No kidding. How did you accidentally kill a newt? (nm) ChrisCD 3/30/99 (9)
      - Well, you asked (long) Edfett 3/30/99 (8)
        
        That's awful. ChrisCD 3/31/99 (0)
        
        Re: Well, you asked (long) Amy Anderson 3/30/99 (4)
        
        sorry to hear about your cat. It's hard losing animals.(nm) Edfett 3/31/99 (2)
        
        Thanks Amy Anderson 3/31/99 (1)
        
        Yes. It "sucks". To put it mildly. ChrisCD 3/31/99 (0)
        
        Yeah, I felt REALLY bad, and helpless (nm) Edfett 3/31/99 (0)
        
        Oh gosh!!! Thera 3/30/99 (1)
        
        no kidding(nm) Edfett 3/31/99 (0)

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: Reposted from 26 Jan, just in case it m,ight be relevent to your situation. : NEWTS & BOLOGNA : As already stated, your first problem with feeding bologna, or any other 'prepared' meat (ie. sausages, franks, ham, etc) is that they all posses very high amounts of salt, spices and nitrates that are used in the curing process. Aside from salt, which newts avoid, none of these other 'chemicals' are generally available in nature; so the newts will have a very limited ability to handle bologna ingestion. : Second, newts are not used to a continuous protein enriched diet ... too much meat, regardless of it's source, could contribute to gout (sort of a combination arthritis, joint and kidney affliction) and rickets. : Last, a steady diet of 'soft' meats such as bologna would not provide the 'roughage' necessary to keep the newt's intestinal tract in good shape ... please remember, newts eat all sorts of hard little bug-like things in nature. : There is also a reference in an older book that too much feeding of meat can result in 'rectal prolapse' in frogs. I'm not sure if when can extrapolate between species; but why take the chance? : If I may be so bold, don't feed your critters any prepared meats. If you must feed meat due to a temporary lack of other foods, I have had some long-term (ie. 12 years+) success with sporadic feedings of raw lean beef, liver and heart... all treated with the appropriate vitamin & mineral supplement. Again, these meat feedings were secondary to the 'usual' food of bugs, worms, live fish and 'newt sticks'. : ((By the way, if your newts won't take to 'newt sticks', try soaking the sticks in some fresh beef blood for 5 minutes first ... and then wean the newts off the blood by soaking the sticks for less-&-less time.)) : I hope this helps more than it hinder you : Cheers, : (Gout reference from: Obst FJ et al. 'The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles & Amphibians for the Terrarium', TFH 1984, pp. 400 & 401) : (Rectal prolapse reference from: Reichenbach-Klinke, H. 'Disease of Amphibians', TFH, 1965 p. 362)

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