Salamander Refuses to Eat

[kenzie]

I recently acquired a small blue spotted salamander who refuses to eat.

I have tried feeding him spike maggots, which he accepted once but then refused to touch. He has shown no interest in blackworms, and I think he's too small for earthworms.

The food crawls on/over/around him and he runs away from it. I've tried holding a nice, wriggling dinner in front of him or placing it near him, and sometimes he will even move towards it, but he always runs away without eating. He's getting rather thin and I'm worried. Does anyone know of a way to encourage him to eat, or of any other foods he might take?


Yours in gratitude,
Kenzie

 

[jennifer]

He may be too shy to eat while you are watching. Two suggestions: Leave a couple of small crickets in the tank. (Put in a piece of carrot so the crickets have something to munch on other than the salamander's skin). Put some pieces of chopped earthworm in front of him, still wiggling, then close the cage, turn off the lights, and don't watch. Later you can count the pieces of worm to see if he ate any. Feeding at night may be more successful than daytime.

 

[kenzie]

How much/often should I expect him to eat?

 

[peat]

i have a red back salamander and i put wrimming piece of earths worms in i use soil as substrate so im never sure if hes eating thow hes looking healthy for aobut 2weeks now but sohuld i try feeds on a tray?