Tiger Salamander growth possibly stunted?

[Anonymous Salamander]

I got my Tiger salamander in December of 2019 and it ate a few worms and then buried itself for multiple months. It has since come back up and began eating A LOT but I have only noticed a small size difference. Is it possible that the long period of time without eating stunted my salamander's growth or are they just slow growers?

 

[Herpin Man]

Herps that are insufficiently fed will grow slowly, or not at all. However in my experience, once normal feeding is resumed, normal growth will resume as well. Genetics play a role as well- some specimens will simply grow larger than others.
Presumably, this would also apply to tiger salamanders. If you want it to grow faster, feed it more. If it begins to look obese, scale back on the feeding.

 

[Anonymous Salamander]

Ok cool! One more thing however, my tiger salamander refuses to eat worms. It will happily eat crickets and similar insects that squirm a lot as well as a newt specific diet that i feed my ribbed newts. Is it ok that it will not eat worms?

 

[Herpin Man]

A tiger salamander that won't eat worms is very unusual, unless you are using red wigglers, which have a very bad tasting substance.
I would try and incorporate earthworms into the diet. Let them burrow into the soil, the salamander should find them.