S. salamandra terrestris wont eat

Hi there, i bought a pair of terrestris two weeks ago from a guy who had kept them for a few years, so i brought them home and left them alone for 3 days to settle in, I've had them for just over a week now and the suspected gravid female hasnt eaten at all whereas the male took a dendrobaena on thursday night, neither of the two show any rapid feeding response. They are both at 18C and I was wondering if this fasting is considered normal behaviour or if they are still settling in??

P.s their previous diet was large black crickets gutloaded with lettuce, I have tried them with brown gutloaded crickets, dubia roaches, dendro's, locust and would not like to continue their solely innapropriate black cricket diet.

Hi Shazza, at this stage I'd not be at all concerned, and probably wouldn't be for two or even three weeks. I assume they are up to weight and carrying good condition. I find different individuals within a subspecies have different temperaments some even seem to revert to their natural instinct and can be shy. You know they can be out and about but when they detect your presence they head off and hide.

Three days to settle. To settle to what? Your routine? Their enclosure? The feeding regime? Your expectations? The external noises etc in around the house?

I have found, in general, my animals settle quickly if given substrate or crevices to hide in. New arrivals initially might become nocturnal and to avoid too much disturbance I put the food in at twilight. I go for chopped worms ( I prefer the huge lumbricus terrestris) or the small, soft cream coloured slugs initially and I place these on a clear area eg piece of bark. I will also go overboard and release an entire punnet of 3rd instar crickets in the enclosure to increase the likelihood of the two meeting. I might also have a shaded lamp in the room to begin acclimatising them to being about when I'm about at night. My terrestris are about early, alfredshmitti after dark whereas the fastuosa might not appear until nearer midnight.

I can understand your concern for the wellbeing of your animals and you are commended for that. Maybe a little patience but keep being observant and keep us posted.

Hi Bunny thankyou for your informative reply, im probably just being too paranoid!! Ill keep you updated

Dear Shazza, I'd say you were just concerned for your animal's wellbeing.