How often to feed?

[howard]

I know this has been gone over probably 1000 times, and I have read it has to do with the temp in the tank, but how often should I feed? I fed my tiger sals 12 crickets and some wax worms yesterday. Now should I wait a couple of days to try nightcrawlers for the first time or would they reject it because they are full from yesterday? I guess it is bad to overfeed also, or do they just not eat if they are full or do they over-eat?

 

[edward]

Most amphibians will eat whenever food is present as they are hard wired to take advantage of a food source. Obesity is very easy to cause in a tiger salamander and very difficult to correct.

What is your temperature? Given the amount that you have offered I would not feed it more than twice a week and probably would split the feeding in half and see how the salamander's weight looks.

Ed

 

[kaysie]

Ed, the animal he has (or I guess he has two now... *refrains from comment) was extremely thin when I saw pics of it. I dont think overfeeding will be a problem just yet.

 

[edward]

Actually if the animal is very thin then refeeding is a potential threat to the health of the animal as refeeding syndrome can cause the animal to crash and die. If the animal is thin, then small frequent easily digested meals are much better than large meals.
Typically, it is recommended to feed 10% of the daily calorie intake per day for several weeks before increasing the amount of food offered. I personally prefer to use earthworms as they are easily digested and not too high in fat.

Ed

 

[jesper]

Hehe, Kaysie - You set up Ed really good there!

 

[howard]

Kaysie, I am not sure by what you mean, refrain from comment. What because I have two now, I found the one in a chlorine shocked pool and he was very thin and not moving, I let him back in the wild. I bought two tigers to have now. Just because I am new doesn't mean I can't have two. You should remember that at one point you were where I am now, A NEWBIE & LEARNING, or let me guess you never asked any questions? And I dont see what the difference is by taking care of one or two. I know that I have the determination to learn and take care of the sals. Why is it you answer every one of my posts you have a problem with me, if that is the case DON'T answer my posts, other people on this board are nice and helpful. I know you are the CAUDATA QUEEN, but give a newbie a chance to ask and learn whether I have one or two sals shouldn't require rude comments and posts.




(Message edited by bulldog on November 09, 2004)

 

[mark]

HI all, would 15 large crickets once a week be good for 2 medium sized tiger sals?

 

[kaysie]

I refrained from comment. I will continue to refrain from comment. I wish you the best of luck. However, if you still wish to make offhanded insults (at least my comments are based in fact), feel free to email them to me.

 

[kaysie]

Ed, I assume that he's already fed it a few times and its getting acclimated to eating.

 

[howard]

Yes Kaysie you are correct the thin guy has eaten crickets and wax worms from tweezers a few times already. About how long will it take for him to add some weight and become plump?

 

[mark]

Hi again, I hope I did'nt insult you Kaysie, and if I did I am sorry, for my question. Would 15 large crickets once a week be good for 2 medium sized tiger sals?

 

[edward]

Hi Kaysie,
Unlike in mammals and birds refeeding doesn't always kick into play within the first couple of meals. It can take multiple meals before the animal crashes and dies if my past experience at work with B. dolflini are of any value (based on necropsies of all dolflini).
I would still advocate small meals fed daily.

Ed

Ed

 

[kaysie]

Ed's the expert, go with him.

 

[mark]

So, is 15 crickets once a week good for 2 medium tiger sals?

 

[howard]

LOL, still no answer to the 15 crickets once a week.

 

[mark]

ha ha, I see, ill just keep asking,

 

[andrew]

Mark, in my experience its not something that you can gage. I'd feed them every two or three days and give them as much as they want to eat, i would vary their diet tho, try waxworms,earthworms etc.Your the best judge really cus you can see them,they need to be healthy looking whilst not to fat and not to thin! in the wild it would be a case of they eat when they can, one week they may eat alot, the next not so much. I don't think its an exact science.
Andy

 

[edward]

Mark,
It is temperature dependent. If you know the temperature and the weight of the salamander you can calculate it, the equations can be found on page 78 of Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry (or you can check out the charts on page 84). Assuming your salamanders weigh no more than 20 grams each, at 20 C they would need 0.09 kcals/day while at 25 C they would need 0.12 kcal/day.
So at 20 C the weekly amount is an estimated 0.63 kcals week while at 25 C it is 0.84 kcals/week. Now this is resting metabolism. An active or stressed animal can have metabolic requirements as much as 8 times as high but we will assume a moderate need of 3 times as high. SO the new weekly totals are end up being 1.89 kcal/week at 20 C and 2.52 kcals/week at 25 C. A well fed cricket is about 1.0 kcals/gram with three large well fed crickets to 1.12 grams.So 15 crickets divided by three gets us a total of 5 grams of crickets (assuming they are adults and are well fed) which gives us 5 kcals of nutrition. If the crickets are adults and are well fed then this looks to be barely adequate. I would recommend the following
1) feed twice a week to even out the metabolic input
2) feed a slightly larger amount of crickets total.

Ed

 

[andrew]

Yea!!! what he said....Teehee

 

[mark]

Ha Ha, thanks, the only problem with your response andrew is that they will just keep o eating! But still thank you. I currently feeding 15 crickets spaced out in a week, and earthworms on occasion. Sometimes mealworms. Thanks again