Not eating after metamorphosis?

[NewtB]

My almost morphed Northwestern Salamander was a big eater a week ago, and then he started losing his gills and fins and hasn't eaten in about 5 days. He has pretty much completely morphed with the exception of tiny nubs for gills. He has still never tried to come out of the water, however, and turns away from the earthworms he use to gobble down. Is this normal?

 

[Chinadog]

I think it's normal, the baby newts i raised last year stopped eating for between a few days and two weeks when they morphed.

 

[NewtB]

OK. Thank you. That helps. I didn't think I should be concerned, but the longer he went, the more I started worrying. He's also been just floating up top amongst the plants, so I hadn't seen him eating or moving much over the last several days. Just was out of character. Thanks for your reply about your experience!

 

[sde]

A. gracile probably wont eat right after metamorphoses from my experiences with them. Him not eating for five days is fine, that's not that long.

This species generally doesn't do so well in captivity in my opinion, because they seem shy and don't want to eat, so this is kind of a common problem with this species as far as I know.

Also, you need to get this guy into a mostly terrestrial or terrestrial setup. After metamorphoses they become completely terrestrial for several years. So you should give him a setup with deep dirt ( for burrowing ), bark rocks and moss for hides, a small water bowl ( or you could just mist the tank ), and some fake or live plants. Make sure its dark, moist, and has prey items that you can leave in the tank, like woodlice. Also you can chop a worm and put a piece in front of him and just leave it there, he may eat it.

Hope this helps. -Seth

 

[NewtB]

Thank you Seth. So you're saying that even though he really hasn't attempted to get out, I should completely swap him out? I was kind of waiting for him to come out on his own before I made it ALL terrestrial. I didn't want to stress him out by forcing it too soon. How do you know when if they don't come out on their own? I currently have a large piece of bark that is floating atop the water. He's gotten his head and front legs onto it to check it out, but that was only once (yesterday) and he mostly stays up amongst the plants ever since. Edit: Also, what are "bark rocks"?

 

[NewtB]

"bark rocks" - I believe I figured it out on my own. "bark, rocks" lol. Sorry it took me so long to figure that out. lol!

 

[NewtB]

A. gracile
Also, you need to get this guy into a mostly terrestrial or terrestrial setup. After metamorphoses they become completely terrestrial for several years. So you should give him a setup with deep dirt ( for burrowing ), bark rocks and moss for hides, a small water bowl ( or you could just mist the tank ), and some fake or live plants.

Done! Yay! Placed him (while still in his water dish) into his new aquarium and within 15 minutes he was OUT! Yay! Thanks Seth!

Here he is:

 

[sde]

Thank you Seth. So you're saying that even though he really hasn't attempted to get out, I should completely swap him out? I was kind of waiting for him to come out on his own before I made it ALL terrestrial. I didn't want to stress him out by forcing it too soon. How do you know when if they don't come out on their own? I currently have a large piece of bark that is floating atop the water. He's gotten his head and front legs onto it to check it out, but that was only once (yesterday) and he mostly stays up amongst the plants ever since. Edit: Also, what are "bark rocks"?

Well if he has lost all his gills, than yes, he should go to a terrestrial setup with a water bowl.

"bark rocks" - I believe I figured it out on my own. "bark, rocks" lol. Sorry it took me so long to figure that out. lol!

Yah, sorry, i meant to put a comma in there lol.

Done! Yay! Placed him (while still in his water dish) into his new aquarium and within 15 minutes he was OUT! Yay! Thanks Seth!

Here he is:

Your welcome :happy:

Looks like a great setup, good job.

By the way, that looks like a A. macrodactylum in that picture, he seems to have a faint stripe down the back - characteristic of A. macrodactylum. Maybe its just the picture though. -Seth

 

[NewtB]

By the way, that looks like a A. macrodactylum in that picture, he seems to have a faint stripe down the back - characteristic of A. macrodactylum. Maybe its just the picture though. -Seth

Interesting you say that. I have gone back and forth between A. Gracile and A. Macrodactylum. I posted some pictures and got a couple responses - both saying they looked like A. Gracile. He does seem to have an ever brightening stripe of greenish speckles down his back from top of his head to his tail. I never saw an extra long 4th toe, so I thought maybe he wasn't the long-toed. I have VERY little experience with salamanders, so I've been doing as much research as possible and just don't know. Here's a little better picture of him:

Let me know what you think. I'd love to know if I have to worry about the poison thing.

 

[NewtB]

Here's hopefully a little better picture of his color:

 

[sde]

Yep, looks like a macrodactylum. You don't need to worry about poison with this species, just don't eat it, and if you see something like milk on it don't touch it ( its poison ). -Seth

 

[NewtB]

Yep, looks like a macrodactylum. You don't need to worry about poison with this species, just don't eat it, and if you see something like milk on it don't touch it ( its poison ). -Seth

Ha! Eating it never even crossed my mind... Though now that you mention it...
Hey, thank you so much for letting me pick your brain!

 

[sde]

Ha! Eating it never even crossed my mind... Though now that you mention it...
Hey, thank you so much for letting me pick your brain!

Haha! He probably wouldn't taste so good anyway

Pick my brain all you want, I love solving things like this.

 

[JasonT]

Immediately after metamorphosis - what types of food do they eat?

I am waiting for mine to eat - was eating black worms just fine while aquatic, but not sure immediately after going terrestrial.

I have small crickets - 1/8" hopefully they will work out okay.

 

[sde]

I would try feeding them small bits of earthworms or night crawlers. If they don't eat that try bloodworms and blackworms, and I would also suggest adding woodlice and other insects found in the wild into their tank.