Calcium in Salamandra salamandra larvae diet

[Mags]

I am raising 13 Fire Salamander larvae. I worry about the monodiet of bloodworm they are currently being fed. My local aquarium shops that always have daphnia and other live food haven't had any deliveries in the last few weeks for obvious reasons. The larvae seem to be doing fine, but I'm worried about the long term effects - particularly I read that worm type food might not have enough calcium for proper bone development. I am not too keen on the idea of wild caught food for them, as these salamanders came from my University and will be returning there, and I worry about introducing parasites or diseases. My question is really - am I right that bloodworm won't be enough micronutrient wise and if that's the case should I try to source some arthropods for them ASAP elsewhere or am I okay to wait until the local shops have a delivery (they will get live food, it's just pretty unreliable at the moment). Thanks in advance!

 

[John]

Bloodworms are not worms, they're insect larvae. Some types of fire salamander larvae will do alright on a diet of just these but I feed live blackworms exclusively to mine. Earthworms and their relatives are a very well balanced food for fire salamanders. Some subspecies of fire require extra calcium but most don't.

 

[Mags]

Bloodworms are not worms, they're insect larvae. Some types of fire salamander larvae will do alright on a diet of just these but I feed live blackworms exclusively to mine. Earthworms and their relatives are a very well balanced food for fire salamanders. Some subspecies of fire require extra calcium but most don't.

Sorry, I know bloodworm isn't really worm I didn't phrase that correctly. I thought blackworm was also insect larvae but now I googled it and I realise it's not. I hope I can get my hands on some of that! Glad to know they would make a better food. They also seems much easier to breed than some other potential food bugs (I tried breeding daphnia and it didn't work at all for some reason...)

Thanks so much for your help

There's one of my dudes hoping for a snack

 

[John]

Sorry, I know bloodworm isn't really worm I didn't phrase that correctly. I thought blackworm was also insect larvae but now I googled it and I realise it's not. I hope I can get my hands on some of that! Glad to know they would make a better food. They also seems much easier to breed than some other potential food bugs (I tried breeding daphnia and it didn't work at all for some reason...)

Thanks so much for your help

There's one of my dudes hoping for a snack

You don't breed blackworms. Takes far too long.

 

[Mags]

You don't breed blackworms. Takes far too long.

Aw that's a shame. Online articles made them sound fairly easy/quick to breed. I can't source any locally so I'll have to order them online which will be pretty expensive. I'll try to get them though thanks for your help.