Question: Newbie w/ question!

Hi, I'm new to this site, and I must say I love seeing that I'm not the only one that loves these little critters!

I have 3 Tiger (or maybe they're spotted) salamanders. When I was young I used to rescue them from all the neighborhood window wells and I finally have some to keep. I thought my 7 yo son would love them as much as I do, but not so much. Everyone else thinks I'm crazy!

Anyway, to my question... I feed them worms, waxies occassionally and I've also been catching grasshoppers in the yard. I would think grasshoppers would be good for them, but after reading some other posts, I noticed that people haven't mentioned them as food choices. Are grasshoppers OK to feed?

All 3 of mine (1 big and 2 little) come popping out of their burrows when they hear me, or the worm can, I think they are adorable and recently bought a larger herp haven for them!

I have to leave in a short while, but I'll be checking back. Just from the quick browsing I did, the information on this site is wonderful!!

Welcome! Yes, grasshoppers are a good food for them. I even have a book on growing live food cultures that has instructions for culturing grasshoppers. It's possible that some species may not taste good, but the sal will probably tell you that by not eating them.

Jennewt said:

Welcome! Yes, grasshoppers are a good food for them. I even have a book on growing live food cultures that has instructions for culturing grasshoppers. It's possible that some species may not taste good, but the sal will probably tell you that by not eating them.

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I don't know for sure, but would you recommend removing the back legs...? Grasshoppers have very bony and dense back legs(not to mention the spines on the outer surface of the legs), I mean, I've seen warnings for far less dangerous prey items. I'd be scared to feed them this. Also grasshoppers are out at daylight...Tiger/Spotted Sals are nocturnal feeders(prodominately, at least), and I doubt many grasshoppers are consumed naturally by these species'. I could be wrong, but I, at least ME, would not feed this, there are so many options to pursue, like even crickets...

Thanks to both of you! I meant to get back online sooner, but I had (have) a very messy house right now so I said no surfing until it was clean(er)!

The grasshoppers I've been catching are smaller ones- about an inch long- but I have noticed that they will spit out the legs sometimes. I sure could remove them- I hadn't in the past because I know they hunt by movement. So far they've liked all the ones I've put in there!! One time I put them all in there and that was a mistake- a bunch of them drowned in thier water bowl .

I haven't bought crickets because I can't stand the noise. I know there are supposedly some that are chirp free, but not around here that I can find. I bought some worm bedding to move the angle worms into so they keep longer because soon the grasshoppers and the tent caterpillars that they love will be gone for the season. I try to limit wax worms as one needs to lose some weight, and meal worms are in short supply.