spotted salamander larvae diet question

[katebutton]

i recently got a few maculatum egg masses but i've never kept larvae before- from what i've read in the caudata forums they love black worms and daphnia. does anyone know if they will eat frozen daphnia? also, all the blackworms i've seen for sale on the internet are very expensive- does anyone know of anywhere to get them cheaper than $40?
thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Jennewt]

I've had poor luck getting any larvae to eat any non-live food. They really are sight-hunters. If you have any healthy ponds nearby, you could collect live daphnia.

There is currently a caudata.org special on blackworms at Aquatic Foods:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=59736
If they are kept rinsed properly, a batch of live blackworms may last you for a month or more, so it's not a bad investment.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Live food is honestly the best way to go at first. However if its an absolute emergency I have had good luck using frozen daphnia, but there is a trick. You can use an air stone to get enough movement in the water to move the daphnia but you will want as little air as possible coming out of the stone. If the larvae sway or their gills sway, then its too much water movement. It truly is a fine line but in a pinch it may work for you.

 

[Nathan050793]

Another trick that I've used to get larvae to eat frozen foods (in this case, bloodworms) is to hand feed them the food using a pipette. If you wiggle the worm from the pipette, this usually stimulates feeding response. Sometimes it doesn't work the first time, but eventually the larvae learn that the pipette in the tank = food.

Note: This does require you to sit there and tempt the larvae, so it can take time. It's probably not the best method if you have a whole lot of larvae.