Food for small spotteds

[woodfrog]

Hi again.
I've been feeding my tiny spotted salamanders little earthworms from my backyard but it's getting harder to find them. I have lots of slugs but they all seem too big. What else can I give them from my yard?
Do bait shops sell worms small enough and are they safe? The salamanders are about 2" long. Should I start some sort of worm farm in order to feed them through the colder months?
I am looking for homes for three of them but don't have enough posts to put them on the classified forum. I'm in Salem MA. so if anyone is nearby and interested...

 

[Nathan050793]

Bait shops (also WalMart, and some pet stores) will sell earthworms, however, they will be very large. The key is that all you have to do is cut them to size. Since the worms still wiggle even when chopped, the salamanders will still go for them.

Additionally, you could try culturing small live foods such as springtails, white worms, or fruit flies. These too should be readily accepted.

Good luck finding them homes!

 

[Nathan]

Springtails and flightless fruit flies are good. I have found that newly morphed spotteds can tackle pinhead crickets as well.

 

[caudatadude28]

I have small Blue spotted sals which are very similar. Anyways I feed them chopped earthworms, small slugs, thawed frozen bloodworms on the end of a cabob stick, and woodlice.

 

[firesalamander]

I would like to have them but sadly I have no room. I am getting some fire sals soon.

 

[woodfrog]

How big, comparatively, a slug can they eat? I've got plenty of those around but they seem a lot tougher than worms and the smaller ones would be about half the size of the salamanders.

 

[Otterwoman]

They can eat anything as big as they can open their mouths.