Feeding Fire Salamander Larvae

[chief762x39]

I have acquired one fire salamander larva and am wondering what the best food for the little guy would be. This is the first fire salamander I've ever had, though I've raised numerous tiger salamander larvae in the past. The tiger salamanders where much larger though when I had them and ate the commercial newt food I fed them. This fire salamander doesn't seem all that intersted in the newt food, though he may be eating small amounts of it that I'm not noticing. What do most of you use to feed your fire salamander larvae?

 

[Bellabelloo]

If the larva is in water still, I would personally offer lots of live food like daphnia, blood worm and so on. Would it be possible to ask the breeder what they where feeding it?

 

[otolith]

Offer it plenty of different live foods, it is unlikely to take pellets. Most good fish/pet stores will have live blackworms (which they often mis-sell as blood worms). These are an excellent food and are not expensive. Daphnia are my favorite live food for most larva but are not usually easy to find in pet shops, you can sometimes find them frozen though. If it is around 2" or more you could probably feed it live brine shrimp, just be sure to rinse them with freshwater first and remove any uneaten ones.

Another option to get lots of small live foods is to get a brine shrimp net and catch small daphnia and other small aquatic insects out of a pond or creek. Bring two containers and just run pond water through the net and empty the net into the other container. Do this a few times in a shallow weedy part of a pond and you should have plenty of live foods.

this article has more detailed info about all of these. Caudata Culture Articles - Microfoods

good luck with your fire salamander!

 

[morg]

I have raised mine this year, [as I do every year] on live daphnia-bloodworm- tubifex worm, and when larger, chopped earthworm, you cannot buy live blackworm here in the UK, or I would have included those in their diet as well

 

[michael]

I'm raising mine on live daphnia, blackworms, and mosquito larvae. (Don't tell my wife about the mosquito larvae.

 

[Brian M]

I've personally have never had any luck with commercial pellets with fire salamander larvae. What works best for me are daphnia, small earth worms chopped, black worms, and brine shrimp. Make sure to clean the brine shrimp and black worms before feeding as the water their packed in is disgusting and can really throw off your tanks chemistry. Good luck.

Brian

 

[chief762x39]

Well I can't seem to find any petstores around here (up to 3 hours away) that carry any of the live foods mentioned. I live in a very rural area. I tried dropping some tiny pinhead crickets in the water but they predictably drowned before the larvae really noticed them. I found a pond not too far away that I'm going to today to try to catch some live foods from with a net. The person I bought the larvae from said he was feeding them pellets, but this one doesn't seem interested in them at all. I think his larvae were surviving by cannibalising each other (I noticed one of them eating another in the tank the day I purchased mine).

 

[Llamaguy36]

What do you feed the juveniles that are on land?

 

[Salamanderfire]

AW: Feeding Fire Salamander Larvae

Hi,

What do you feed the juveniles that are on land?

I fed mine with white worms, small earthworms, tiny slugs and snails, woodlice, aphids, springtails, fruit flies, larvae of flies from mushrooms and other tiny critters from our garden or from the woods around here.
Almost everything can be fed that moves, is small enough and that is not toxic or too hard. But avoid ground beetles, ants and other predators that might be dangerous for the little salamanders.
In my opinion it is important not only to feed one single species of feeder insect, but as many different species as possible.

If you have to buy your feeding insects, you can try pea aphids, firebrats, fruit flies, springtails, white tropical woodlice, tiny crickets and white worms, which are sold at pet shops (at least a pet shop can order them for their customers) or can be ordered from mail order business.
Another possibility are live blood worms (red larvae of chironomids) that are often sold at pet shops. They can be put on a wet paper towel, where they are able to survive some time. Maybe live tubifex worms and black worms can be fed the same way, but I haven't tried yet.

Peter

 

[Llamaguy36]

Re: AW: Feeding Fire Salamander Larvae

They morphed out about 4 days ago. I've been trying to feed them fruit flies and chopped earth worms but they haven't been eating. I know they don't eat the first couple of days but they are pretty skinny and I'm starting to get worried.

 

[levinas]

If you fed them bloodworm as hatchlings try offering them on a paper towel, as above post suggests, they may recognise them as food and start feeding.

 

[Sianita]

I fed my FS larvae on bloodworms and occasionally chopped earthworms, and when they morphed the first 1 didn't eat anything for a month no matter what I tried. The other 3 I had were fed on bloodworms dangled in front of them for a few weeks and the odd chopped earthworm but they weren't fans of that lol About 1-2 months I started them on tiny crickets which worked a treat

 

[outdoorvivaria]

I feed mine white worm and daphnia while aquatic.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Creekratt]

I'm raising mine on live daphnia, blackworms, and mosquito larvae. (Don't tell my wife about the mosquito larvae.

Hey Michael can you tell me which species of daphnia you feed newly deposited fire larvae? I'm brand new to all this and would love to hear from someone experienced.
I understand that daphnia will be at different sizes as they grow and like to find which species adult size are suitable for newly deposited fire larvae.
A size comparison would be very helpful as well both with daphnia, worms, etc.
I know you are extremely busy and appreciate any input.