Hand feeding

[marks1018]

I've heard that Tigers will eat from your hand and even seen videos and I know it take time but how do you get to that point with a wild Tiger. She wont eat if I'm around. She will eat crickets I leave in the tank while I watch from a distance but I want to get her on earthworms. If I hold the worm up to her she tries to get away from it. If I drop it and leave it it crawls off or burrows into the coco before she eats it.

 

[Kaysie]

Use tongs instead of sticking your whole hand into the tank, and try feeding in the evening when it's a little darker.

 

[James Gordon]

Forceps is definitely the way forward - they're less visually scary than an entire hand. Also I tend to feed mine on an evening which is a more natural time of day for them to feed.
Depending on the salamander I find some respond to the touch of a wriggling prey item (especially waxworms) whilst others will defensively drop head down or turn away. Maybe depends upon an individual's past experience. You may may have to adjust your technique accordingly.
Once feeding from forceps, may be worth trying them with the new Pacman frog food
Samurai-Japan Reptiles - SamuraiJapanReptiles | Facebook.
I'm impressed with the growth of my Chacoan horned frog on this - he looks like a healthy, sturdy frog with no signs of metabolic bone disease etc despite a rapid growth rate...and my female barred tiger salamander loves the stuff. Bought 2 new subadult tigers last week and hope to wean these on to this food very soon and see how they develop. So far they've started taking mealworms etc from forceps. This is how I had to train my horned frog initally so he associated forceps with food before trying the new diet.

 

[marks1018]

Apparently she just don't like worms. I put her in a smaller empty container with about 6 worms and left em for about an hour or 2. All the worms were still there. I even turned the lights off. Looks like I will be making a trip to the Bait Shop. Their crickets are a whole lot cheaper and come from the same place.

 

[Kaysie]

Moving her for feeding is probably stressing her out too. I wouldn't move her for feeding; that's not going to help.

If she eats crickets happily, make sure you dust and gutload as necessary.