Friend Needs Salamander Help

Hello all, my friend is a new salamander owner and he had done a lot of research on them before getting one and he had a problem with the one he has. When he first got him he ate one earthworm. Its been about two weeks since he ate the worm and he refuses to eat anything now. Any suggestions on what he could do? I'm a crested gecko and bearded dragon owner so I don't know anything about these guys but I'm trying to help him. Please help.

Temperatures are around 70 degrees Fahrenheit at all times with misting three times a day.

Sounds too hot and too wet to me. I'd stop the misting to once a day at most, when it gets dark. The substrate should not be wet, and a humidity gradient is always best (some drier spots). If he can get it any cooler or place the enclosure near the AC the salamander would be a lot better off. They do not like to be above about 65F for extended periods of time. Mine are kept at 63F and eat like pigs, they are not usually hard to feed when their housing requirements are met.

His house is very dry and he mists lightly just on one side of the tank he said. I'm not sure if that matters. There isn't a ton of info on these guys so he didn't know what temperature was good, thank you for suggesting that temperature he's going to move it to the basement today to see if that helps. What do you suggest for a diet?

Earthworms are generally best. Sometimes crickets are fine, as the movement might encourage it to eat. DO NOT leave crickets in the tank for long periods of time. Their bite is nasty to fragile amphibian skin.

Mine loves wax worms, earthworms. The temps need to be in the lower 60'sF. Then you should see a change in appetite.

My suggestion would be to try a different type of earthworm. I have a couple different species of fire salamander, and found they both prefer the much larger "nightcrawlers" I get from a local bait shop as opposed to "trout worms" available at Walmart or smaller earthworms found in the yard. The nightcrawlers are huge, sometimes over 6" long, very fat and "wriggly", the fire salamanders simply can't resist. Also, they are more economical and quicker to feed them, because 2 large worms is enough to satisfy the most voracious of salamanders most of the time.

On a side note, I've never had any issues with reduced appetite keeping them at 70-72 degrees, I know it's a bit on the hot side, but I don't have a basement and don't like blasting the AC. I had an AC issue earlier this week with a frozen condensor which caused the temp to spike to 79 degrees inside one day, the fire salamanders were not as active as usual but they are still eating like pigs, so I'm skeptical of the temps in the 60's being required to get them eating well. Fyi...mine are S. Salamandra and S. Gallaica.

Also, is this a wild caught or CB salamander? It's fairly common for the WC ones to have issues eating after the stress of shipping, poor keeping by wholesalers, possible parasites/disease, ect. I would be patient, try different worms, and hopefully it will come around soon.