VernTheSally91
New member
Hi all!
I have a juvenile spotted salamander (A. maculatum; 5-6 months old) that suddenly stopped eating. It’s only been 5 days since they last ate (which I know is not that long), but this salamander is generally VERY food motivated (i.e., would always come out of hiding whenever I opened the lid to feed and never before refused food). They stayed with a friend over the holidays and it seemed like they were still eating normally throughout their stay. However, the one oddity is that the salamander was more hesitant to eat during the last feeding at my friend’s (took at least two minutes of holding the worm in its face before it showed any interest). Since getting home, the salamander is showing no interest in food. They barely even react to the worm in front of them. Normally they go for the worm right away. I typically feed one small worm (~1”) every other day and occasionally some gut-loaded 1/8” crickets. I dust crickets with Repashy Calcium Plus once a week. Temps in the terrarium are typically 60-63 (F), but averaged 55-58 (F) at my friends. My understanding is that these temps are well within a normal range for spotteds to stay active and not trigger brumation. Besides the temperature difference between my place and my friends, it seemed like my friend may have misted the terrarium way too much since there was about 1” of standing water in the false bottom of the terrarium. I drained this and have been holding off on misting to let the substrate dry out a bit since it’s pretty saturated. I use NEHERP Vivarium Substrate (V2) and it’s about 4” deep above the substrate barrier/false bottom. There is about an inch of oak leaves and bark for hiding and 1/4 of the terrarium has a think layer of sphagnum moss on top of the substrate to provide a moisture gradient. There is still a shallow water dish with clean spring water for submersion if needed while things “dry out”. The salamander is still pretty active in the terrarium and moving around (similar to before the food refusal started). They still appear healthy with no obvious physical issues (slightly plump and bright spots). No bloating or rapid weight loss.
Overall, I’m wondering how concerned I should be at this point. I know they can go awhile without food, but this is a drastic change in behavior. How long is too long for a juvenile spotted salamander to not eat? Does this just seem like stress from the temp/moisture change and travel (20 min drive in a padded cooler inside terrarium) or something more? Any suggestions on how to move forward?
For those that may ask, this salamander was collected (in the larval stage) under a research permit and could not be released back into the wild due to biosecurity concerns.
Thank you!
I have a juvenile spotted salamander (A. maculatum; 5-6 months old) that suddenly stopped eating. It’s only been 5 days since they last ate (which I know is not that long), but this salamander is generally VERY food motivated (i.e., would always come out of hiding whenever I opened the lid to feed and never before refused food). They stayed with a friend over the holidays and it seemed like they were still eating normally throughout their stay. However, the one oddity is that the salamander was more hesitant to eat during the last feeding at my friend’s (took at least two minutes of holding the worm in its face before it showed any interest). Since getting home, the salamander is showing no interest in food. They barely even react to the worm in front of them. Normally they go for the worm right away. I typically feed one small worm (~1”) every other day and occasionally some gut-loaded 1/8” crickets. I dust crickets with Repashy Calcium Plus once a week. Temps in the terrarium are typically 60-63 (F), but averaged 55-58 (F) at my friends. My understanding is that these temps are well within a normal range for spotteds to stay active and not trigger brumation. Besides the temperature difference between my place and my friends, it seemed like my friend may have misted the terrarium way too much since there was about 1” of standing water in the false bottom of the terrarium. I drained this and have been holding off on misting to let the substrate dry out a bit since it’s pretty saturated. I use NEHERP Vivarium Substrate (V2) and it’s about 4” deep above the substrate barrier/false bottom. There is about an inch of oak leaves and bark for hiding and 1/4 of the terrarium has a think layer of sphagnum moss on top of the substrate to provide a moisture gradient. There is still a shallow water dish with clean spring water for submersion if needed while things “dry out”. The salamander is still pretty active in the terrarium and moving around (similar to before the food refusal started). They still appear healthy with no obvious physical issues (slightly plump and bright spots). No bloating or rapid weight loss.
Overall, I’m wondering how concerned I should be at this point. I know they can go awhile without food, but this is a drastic change in behavior. How long is too long for a juvenile spotted salamander to not eat? Does this just seem like stress from the temp/moisture change and travel (20 min drive in a padded cooler inside terrarium) or something more? Any suggestions on how to move forward?
For those that may ask, this salamander was collected (in the larval stage) under a research permit and could not be released back into the wild due to biosecurity concerns.
Thank you!
