Illness/Sickness: Burrowed salamander

[Jackenisawesome]

Hey,

So just concerned abut my tiger salamander Jacken who we have had for 4 years. So he is about 4-5 years old. He is typically a glutinous guy who pops right out of where ever he is when he feels the tank open. He has burrowed three time in the last 4 years about general only missed one feed. He' hasn't popped up in 9 days. The last four months his behaviour has changed. He doesn't eat from the tongs anymore. We uses to feed half the crickets by tongs and released half. Have tried to offer different food but he doesn't want anything. We have never had to dig him out before and I don't know if we should. How long should we wait to dig him out?

Thanks
- Katie

 

[Sith the turtle]

Has his humidity dropped recently? He could be detecting the change in seasons as well, try keeping his light and dark cycle at a stable 12 hours of light and 12 of dark. Also worth noting, crickets are a poor food choice, at least when not fed with tongs, because they have a tendency to feed on whatever they can find in a tank, including the salamander. Try using Canadian night-crawlers, or trout worms. They are far more nutritious, and are easier to feed, use, and digest than crickets. Here's some helpful links: Caudata Culture Articles - Food Items for Captive Caudates Caudata Culture Articles - Nutritional Values Caudata Culture Articles - Worms Caudata Culture Articles - How to Feed a Large Worm to a Small Newt Caudata Culture Articles - Tiger Salamander 101 Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tiger salamander

 

[Jackenisawesome]

Thanks for the advice. I will look for night crawlers or trout worms. He didn't like them before but will try releasing them. Humidity has been pretty stable. We have a light on a timer to keep a good cycle. He doesn't appear to be digging or touching his water. Which is normally dirty as soon as I change it. I real don't feel like he moved at all in the last week from where ever he's hiding. He did just shed just before he went hiding somewheres.

-Katie

 

[Jackenisawesome]

So Jacken has still not shown up. There no evidence in his tank that he moved from where ever he is. Is it safe for him if i try to dig him up it's been 4 weeks. The weather outside has been stable the last 2-3 weeks and the temperature in the house is 19. Humidity in the tank has always been stable.

Thanks for anymore advice
-Katie

 

[Bellabelloo]

It will be safe to see if you can find him. I would carefully remove any items such as water bowls/ pots etc first. Check carefully in case he is tucked inside anything. When I have the needed to check on any of my salamanders, I always use my hands to carefully scoop through the substrate.

 

[Jackenisawesome]

So I did find him. I started on one side of the tank and than found him on the other side. Luckily it was his head side I found first so I feed him a bit and left him be for a 10 minutes and he got out of his hole and went for his water dish. . His colour a bit dull but he looks good otherwise

 

[Bellabelloo]

I am so happy to see him