Question: Dusky Not Eating...

[fasteddy]

Hello, All,

I picked up four southern duskies (though one turned out to be a two-lined salmander!) from a local pet store. I thought they would be captive bred, but considering they are adults of various ages and one was a two-lined, I am quite sure they are field collected.

I am not in panic mode at all, but it has been two days and none of the four has accepted food (beyond the two-lined chewing on a few frozen bloodworms). I have crickets, feeder guppies (very small), meal worms, bloodworms, and earthworms on hand. I have to say I was surprised that they all turned down fresh, wriggling earthworm pieces. I do not want to get worried, but I do want to have a plan if this lack of eating should continue a few more days.

They are currently waiting for their new home -- a 20 gallon viv with a false bottom, waterfall, etc. But they are currently in a simple plastic 2-gallon tub with a mix of soil and coco husk substrate and a layer of moss on top of it (it was the moss they were in when I picked them up... not sure of the type but it is moist and seems clean enough).

Any advice you could give would be much appreciated!

 

[FRANCOIS]

Hello, All,

I picked up four southern duskies (though one turned out to be a two-lined salmander!) from a local pet store. I thought they would be captive bred, but considering they are adults of various ages and one was a two-lined, I am quite sure they are field collected.

I am not in panic mode at all, but it has been two days and none of the four has accepted food (beyond the two-lined chewing on a few frozen bloodworms). I have crickets, feeder guppies (very small), meal worms, bloodworms, and earthworms on hand. I have to say I was surprised that they all turned down fresh, wriggling earthworm pieces. I do not want to get worried, but I do want to have a plan if this lack of eating should continue a few more days.

They are currently waiting for their new home -- a 20 gallon viv with a false bottom, waterfall, etc. But they are currently in a simple plastic 2-gallon tub with a mix of soil and coco husk substrate and a layer of moss on top of it (it was the moss they were in when I picked them up... not sure of the type but it is moist and seems clean enough).

Any advice you could give would be much appreciated!

How long have you had them? Why not place them in the 20 gallons? Maybe it's not ready yet? I would leave some food in their set up such as 10 earthworms, if they are small enough to be eaten, the sals will eat them in the middle of the night.
What temperature do you keep them at?

 

[fasteddy]

Good questions! I am working on the enclosure... I actually didn't want the sals for a couple weeks and the owner of the shop just went ahead and ordered them. I figured they'd be better with me than sitting on his desk in deli cups (even if the enclosure wasn't ready).

These are the southern variety, so I'd imagine they can handle temps a bit higher than most sals (being FL natives and all!). Their tub is at 70-72 degrees right now (it is 93 outside, so its difficult to get cooler).... I believe they might have eaten 3-4 crickets (those are not visible in the tank anymore), and I have broken two long earthworms (six inches or so) into four pieces and left them in the substrate. Hopefully they'll get down on them! I'm also wondering if they'd eat the (small) mealworms at some point as well...

Thanks for your help!

 

[FRANCOIS]

Temp seems fine, at least not TOO high. So you just got the sals like in the last 48 hours? If so, it would be normal for them not to eat. It usually take 4 days minimum for them to begin relaxing, especially since they are wild caught.

 

[Molch]

also, I'd put them in a larger container. Four of them in a 2-gallon tub seems too crowded, esp. if they were wild-caught and are probably stressed. In fact, I'd probably even quarantine them separately, or, at the very least, separate the 2-lined sal from the duskies.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Just an FYI, those duskies WILL eat the two-line if they are housed together.

 

[fasteddy]

The container was not ideal. I've transferred them into a larger container with a screened lid... but I don't have a ton of options until their permanent home is finished.

The thing that sparked the transfer was finding the largest dusky dead on Friday afternoon. Since the switch, all three seem much healthier, though, and are much more active. With a bit of a casualty... we may be over the hump! (Fingers crossed.) I'm going to dig up some new worms this week and see if they'll take them on a tease-feed.

Also: All three are approximately the same size. The two-lined and dusky appear to get along. A pair even burrows together. I don't at the moment believe that one would attempt to eat the other... and I hope those are not 'famous last words!'

Thanks for the help!