Green worms safe for salamander?

[Dart]

Hi all. I have a 6-7 year old tiger salamander that my parents take care of while I have been away at college (he's pretty much my dad's pet now, as he finds him extremely fascinating). Since it's winter, all we can find to feed him is earthworms in stores, and even then it's hard to find a store that sells them, and we live far away from most stores, so we get what we can find.

However, the only thing available this weekend when we stopped at a store were the new neon green nightcrawlers, which I understand originate from Canada. I need to know if these are going to be safe for my salamander or not. Are they dyed or are they naturally green?

Hopefully someone can provide some insight. Thanks!

 

[Jennewt]

They are regular Canadian nightcrawlers that are dyed green. I have no idea exactly what kind of green dye is used. By law, there is no reason for the manufacturer to list ingredients, and they are probably not required to use food-safe dye for this purpose. If it were up to me, I wouldn't use them as salamander food. Whoever is selling them should also be able to obtain undyed worms from the same supplier, so I would ask them to get the undyed ones.

 

[Dart]

Well the closest walmart is 100 miles away, but hopefully I can convince my dad to not feed him until we can either dig some worms or get some regular nightcrawlers or crickets. Thanks!