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New to Tigers. Are Mine Ok?

JWWyo

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Ok, so I got two Tiger Salamanders on Saturday. There is a lake here in town that is just full of them but it's near a skate park and punks there make a point to skate over the migrating salamanders. That's why I have these two. They're both about 6-7 inches long but maybe only 2 inches wide. They appear to still have little gill stumps.

At first I had them on a paper substrate that said it was labeled for reptiles because that's all Walmart had but on Sunday I replaced it with a mixture of coconut fiber from Petco and green moss. I also gave them a log to hide up as well as a water dish with treated water. They're in a 10 gallon glass tank (don't yell, it's all I had and I can't devote my entire income to these guys) with a lid.

So here is my issue. They won't eat. I know they're wild caught and are stressed so I don't expect them to eat right away but one is very thin. I've offered baby night crawlers and gut loaded crickets. Nothing.

The better conditioned one just started burrowing today and is currently sitting under the water dish with his head out. The thin one won't leave the log and is curled up nose to tail in there. It's pretty unresponsive. It hardly wiggled when I moved it into the tank although it wiggled a lot when I took it away from the park so it didn't get run over. The other one is very responsive and wiggles a lot. I'm pretty concerned that the thin one is going to die in that log. It just acts so differently than the other.
 

Asevernnnn

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JWWyo

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This probably sounds like a pretty ignorant question, but will they get used to me feeding them or are they that skittish that they will starve themselves to death? I know it wasn't the smartest thing to take them but I figured they stood a chance with me than on the skate ramps.

The braver one has come out of its burrow several times today but doesn't seem interested in food. The other one has yet to leave the log except when I moved it out to see if it was alive.
 

meganderrick

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Hello! I've only had my Tiger Salamander since last Christmas, but at first he wouldn't eat anything. After a few days I broke down and got tongs to feed him with and he took to that very well. Now I hand feed him, but maybe tongs would help with your situation? Once they get used to the tongs you can try switching. I don't think they will starve themselves, just keep trying and (as bad as it sounds) eventually they'll get hungry enough to go for it. Best of luck :D
 
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