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Tiger salamander refusing food. Help

salamandergod

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Just earlier this week my adult tiger salamander started refusing his night crawlers. He had a great feeding response until around last week he sluggishly took a crawler. Now he just sits there, looks at the crawler and acts as if it's not there. He is housed In a 20 gallon long in the basement (during summer when it's too hot upstairs). Thanks to everyone for the help in advance because I am stumped.
 

RPM

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Some tigers stop eating from time to time. I believe it is caused by our regular feeding patterns or the lack of food variety that is not experienced in the wild. You can try enticing him with a fast moving food such as a crickets. Maybe give him a two to three day break between feeding attempts.
 

salamandergod

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Thanks for the reply. I will try to give him a few day break and change up the menu a bit. I got a little frightened for him because he has never done this in the three years I've had him.
 

RPM

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If you use crickets, please remove them from the tank if uneaten. Try placing the salamander and food into an isolation cage (a plastic critter keeper, empty tank or something similar) for an hour or so, which aids in monitoring them. You can also try wild caught bugs from chemical free environments.
 

salamandergod

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Thank you rpm for your advice in what to do in my situation. I tried some meal worms that I had lying around (yes I know they aren't very nutritious) calcium dusted them and he ate right away. I even got him to eat a night crawler by calcium dusting just the very end of it to make it look more like a meal worm and smell like one.
 

limnologist

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When my salamanders stop eating I offer them chunks of fresh fish and it usually gets them eating again.
 
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