Help with feeding newly morphed spotted salamanders.

Spotted · Jul 19, 2007

I hatched out 2 batches of spotted salamanders in the spring I now have 30 to 50 in an outside setup and they are now morphing so far only two have come out. I transfered the to a 10 gallon tank with dirt in the bottom with moss substrate on some of the surface and a log submerge in the dirt, submerge so that the cant get under it. I need help with feeding them. Do to their size I have difficultly finding them and was wondering what the best for to feed them. Any ideas that will help I would apperciate. Thank you kyle

Also have one adult red salamander that seems to do alright on earthworms.

Abrahm · Jul 19, 2007

I don't have any experience raising larvae but I would imagine that foods commonly used for thumbnail dart frogs would work well for newly morphed salamanders. Try looking into acquiring springtails, fruit flies or white worms. These are all small food items that should work well for feeding. I think you have a lot of work ahead of you keeping all those little mouths fed!

louise · Jul 19, 2007

I feed my newly morphed hong kong newt larvae pinhead crickets and live bloodworm.

Jennewt · Jul 19, 2007

How large are the morphs? A good-sized Ambystoma morph may be too large for springtails and fruit flies, it depends on how large the larvae get before they morph.

Here is how I fed newly-morphed marbled sals. I put pieces of cut-up earthworm (pieces still wiggling) at the opening of the place where they were hiding. I would then leave the room and not disturb them. I would come back later and check how many pieces of worm were still there. The advantages of this system are (1) earthworms are a great growth food, and (2) you can confirm for certain that they are eating, which is very reassuring.

Spotted · Jul 24, 2007

Thanks for the help, they have started to eat little earthworms today and yesterday, I have release about 30 and kept 4 for myself to raise, hopefully the will grow fast!!

Ed · Jul 24, 2007

While it often seems like a good idea to hatch and release local natives, this is a potential big problem for the wild animals (not only that but it is illegal in many states without the proper permits and/or licenses). This is due to the risk of the animals picking up a novel pathogen and trasporting it the wild, this has happened intentionally and unintentionally with disasterous results (for examples, see the effects of mycoplasma in Gopherus ssp, chytrid in amphibians, and iridovirus carried by tiger salamanders). The recommendation is that anything that has been kept in captivity unless kept is strict isolation with appropriate biosecurity is not to be released.

Ed

mklovebus · Aug 10, 2007

I'm at about the same stage now with my unidentified morph. His head looks really big- is this normal? He was eating little bits of Repto-min and frozen brine shrimp as a larvae, then overnight he lost his gills, climbed up on the rock, and he looks hungry! Since he's not spending much time in the water now I'm about to try worms. Do I need a vitamin supplement with red wigglers from my compost bin? And does anyone know if pesticide residue on the vegetables in the compost could be a high enough concentration to harm a herp who consumes the worms?

Otterwoman · Aug 11, 2007

I am also dealing with spotted sal morphs. I'm feeding them springtails, fruit flies, and blackworms in a shallow dish, but I'm going to try your idea, Jennewt. Plus I have some really really tiny earthworms in my earthworm farm that I'll dig out for them.

keithp · Aug 11, 2007

Pinhead crickets and small earthworms are quickly eaten. Soon waxworms will be easily eaten.

mklovebus · Aug 12, 2007

He just won't EAT!

There are no wingless fruit flies or pinhead crickets for sale in my area. I have posted on Craigslist in the hope that there are herp enthusiasts nearby who are raising them. I went outside to find small insects but I live in a city so all I got was one tiny earthworm. I have tried small worms, pieces of larger worms, frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp, and softened Repto-min. I have tried them all by tweezer and by leaving them on his rock, as well as dropping them into the shallow water area. I then tried putting the little guy into the water and dropping the food in, as a throwback to his larval days. He has turned to watch the live worms crawl away, and the frozen ones I placed on a rock have all dried up. At one point he even ran from a bloodworm. What do I do? I'm getting worried. He's so tiny, I can't imagine that he can go long without eating.

Jennewt · Aug 12, 2007

They often don't eat for a few days after morphing. It may simply be too soon. You mentioned that you have compost worms. I'd recommend to keep trying with those (no vitamin supplement is needed; I doubt that you need to worry about vegetable residues). Eventually he'll eat, if he's going to.

Your description of him having a big head doesn't sound encouraging. For some species, this may be normal, but for others it would indicate that the animal didn't grow big enough during the larval stage. Next time, fatten up the larva with small compost worms and other live food before metamorphosis.

Ed · Aug 12, 2007

You can mail order wingless fruitfly cultures. I have used Ed's Fly Meat (and met Erin and Dave) several times in the past (http://www.edsflymeat.com/ ). If you let them know that you need a culture already producing and pay the for the faster shipping they will get it to you very quickly.

I also have dealt with (and met Amanda and Greg) Arizona Dendrobate Ranch Store (http://www.azdr.com/). Amanda and Greg also will give good and quick sevice.

Both of these produce flightless fruitflies and will go over thier culturing with you (you can get all of the supplies from them).

Ed

keithp · Aug 13, 2007

By your pictures they look good. Yes, after morphing they do go a few days before eating. The key is they need live food, if it's not alive they wont eat it. Mature adults may but not ones this small.

If you cant find pinhead crickets what about small crickets?

Did you try small pillbugs? If the salamanders are on land small pillbugs are also another option until you can find crickets.

mklovebus · Aug 22, 2007

Finally

My little guy has eaten! It's been over two weeks since he morphed, he hasn't gotten emaciated or anything although he's been very lethargic. I was unable to find ANY pillbugs that were smaller than he is, kept trying the worms to no avail. Finally today I was able to get to a different petstore that had some very tiny crickets in with the "smalls." I tweezed the tiniest one and put it right next to his head and he GOBBLED it! Hooray! I'm SO relieved. I just couldn't stand the fact that I had taken a wild larva with the hope of giving him a head start and then he was going to die. At least now I have hope!

keithp · Aug 26, 2007

Very good! Once they eat for the first time their appetite will too grow. Keep up with the small crickets and if you find any worms give a few of them too. Soon you will notice he will be bigger.

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