Lauruven
New member
Hi again everyone it's been some time since I last posted anything but I am really in need of some advice.
History: Bought from this Ambystoma tigrinum from a pet store about 5 or more years ago. From very beginning I've had trouble getting this guy/gal to unearth itself for feeding. I've tried just about everything from watering heavily to simulate rainfall to make it emerge to housing it with another ambystoma who is a very good eater & comes out regularly to eat, to checking at all hours of day & night for weeks to see if any little bit of its head is poking out to where i am now which is it's housed alone in a smaller enclosure and I have to regularly unearth it to get it to eat. Once settled from stress from digging it up it will eat like a pig and eat anything offered. But this salamander is getting too underweight now & I've even waited at times of upwards of 3 plus months for it to come out on its own but it never does. It's like if I don't dig it up to feed it it's like it would rather starve to death then come up to the surface. This salamander also prefers to be fed in the water but will also consume snacks on my lap or in the dirt. I try avoid feeding in dirt to lower risk of it ingesting too much substrate only because this particular salamander seems so frail & getting the smallest of impactions would be certain doom for it. Also in have noticed for some time these bumps on its skin that have been there for awhile & have had no change in size or appearance nor have any others emerged that I can see at least.
Enclosure: 20g long bioactive, excuse the murky water in its wash pan as i had just dug it up to feed it. Substrate is sloped for varying depths of substrate w/ deepest section being roughly 6 or more inches deep. Plenty of natural hiding, substrate consists of coco coir, spag/peat , sand, activated charcoal, & tree fern fiber.
Temp is 65.4 day time w/ slight drop at night with lights off
Lighting plain ol fluorescent lighting w/ a day/night cycles on timer & mimicking current circadian rhythm.
Diet mainly earthworms but offer on occasionally wax or mealworms & crickets. Supplement with only Herptivite multivitamin
Question/Concerns Should i continue just digging it up to feed it & if so should i remove 1/2 the substrate in order to better access o dig it up to feed? Basically any & all advice j's welcome with an open ear. I just am at a loss to why this particular salamander won't come up to feed and what i should do about it. I am a vet tech but currently not working so $ is tight. But what am I doing wrong and what can I do differently to get this guy/gal to put on weight and to emerge more to eat if its at all possible. I feel like it's something I'm doing wrong. 1
History: Bought from this Ambystoma tigrinum from a pet store about 5 or more years ago. From very beginning I've had trouble getting this guy/gal to unearth itself for feeding. I've tried just about everything from watering heavily to simulate rainfall to make it emerge to housing it with another ambystoma who is a very good eater & comes out regularly to eat, to checking at all hours of day & night for weeks to see if any little bit of its head is poking out to where i am now which is it's housed alone in a smaller enclosure and I have to regularly unearth it to get it to eat. Once settled from stress from digging it up it will eat like a pig and eat anything offered. But this salamander is getting too underweight now & I've even waited at times of upwards of 3 plus months for it to come out on its own but it never does. It's like if I don't dig it up to feed it it's like it would rather starve to death then come up to the surface. This salamander also prefers to be fed in the water but will also consume snacks on my lap or in the dirt. I try avoid feeding in dirt to lower risk of it ingesting too much substrate only because this particular salamander seems so frail & getting the smallest of impactions would be certain doom for it. Also in have noticed for some time these bumps on its skin that have been there for awhile & have had no change in size or appearance nor have any others emerged that I can see at least.
Enclosure: 20g long bioactive, excuse the murky water in its wash pan as i had just dug it up to feed it. Substrate is sloped for varying depths of substrate w/ deepest section being roughly 6 or more inches deep. Plenty of natural hiding, substrate consists of coco coir, spag/peat , sand, activated charcoal, & tree fern fiber.
Temp is 65.4 day time w/ slight drop at night with lights off
Lighting plain ol fluorescent lighting w/ a day/night cycles on timer & mimicking current circadian rhythm.
Diet mainly earthworms but offer on occasionally wax or mealworms & crickets. Supplement with only Herptivite multivitamin
Question/Concerns Should i continue just digging it up to feed it & if so should i remove 1/2 the substrate in order to better access o dig it up to feed? Basically any & all advice j's welcome with an open ear. I just am at a loss to why this particular salamander won't come up to feed and what i should do about it. I am a vet tech but currently not working so $ is tight. But what am I doing wrong and what can I do differently to get this guy/gal to put on weight and to emerge more to eat if its at all possible. I feel like it's something I'm doing wrong. 1
