Jabba is already beginning to morph! What do I do?

[Donna001]

Jabba is out of the water.
He's looking good and has nearly lost his gills.
Amazing.

 

[Foree]

Today jabba got his new set up, and he is now pretty much fully terrestrial, he refuses to stay in the water bowl since dirt is an option, he is eating good and healthy. But I guess he just didn't want to take pictures today

Previous set up

New set up

And lastly me trying to get a good picture of him

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[Donna001]

He's lovely. :happy:

 

[jewett]

Jabba does look great and thanks for documenting its transition for us.

Its new habitat does have a secure cover, right?

HJ

 

[Foree]

Cover.. Yes
Secure....ehh
I have a screen top from an old aquarium that I sit on top of it and weigh it down its good enough that he shouldn't be able to escape.

He won't be in the plastic tote forever, eventually I will move him back to the aquarium as a terrestrial set up so it will be more of a display. The reason he isn't currently in the aquarium is that I'm using it as a quarantine tank for one of my gold fish who has damaged fins and a pretty bad case of fin rot.

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[Foree]

I do have a very urgent question now, how do I feed him? The worms just want to burrow away in his dirt, and if I take him out or try to feed him in his water bowl he just seems uninterested

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[Chinadog]

You could try leaving him some chopped nightcrawlers in a shallow non-metallic dish, it he's hungry he'll find them at night when there's nobody around. It is normal for them to go off their food a bit when they are morphing, I doubt he'll be able to resist nightcrawlers for very long, though.
Btw, I've enjoyed following this thread, I'm raising my first Tiger sal larvae at the moment and its given me an idea of what's in store.

 

[Donna001]

Awesome that documenting Jabba's transition is helping people already.

Sorry to see that your fish is unwell. I also keep fish and wish yours the best of luck for a speedy recovery.

Chinadog, good luck with raising your first tiger salamander, I hope all goes well.

:happy:

 

[Bellabelloo]

Sometimes they won't feed for a little while. I used to patiently dangle worms in front of any promising tiger shaped holes and wait for the worm to be snatched. They quickly worked out that as soon as I went near them, that worms would appear. A few escaped worms will be fine..snacks for later

 

[Foree]

I dug Jabba up today to check on him, he seems to be doing just fine, I got him a ceramic food dish but he still seems uninterested in food.

My question for today is, is soil used for starting seeds ok for salamanders? It's organic, has no fertilizers or pesticides in it, and I believe the package said its 60% sphagnum moss

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[Chinadog]

I wouldn't use anything with sphagnum moos in it. Sphagnum moss, especially when it's dead is dangerous to amphibians because it becomes very acidic when it starts to decompose. I think most people with Tiger sals use the coconut fibre (I think it's known as Coir?) or regular peat free organic compost.

 

[Foree]

Alright I'll look around for some. I may end up just going and collecting top soil and leaf litter from the woods behind my house.

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[Sith the turtle]

What I did for Pirate when he was skittish, was tweezer/hand feed the nightcrawlers to him, so its easy for it to grab, and it won't burrow away

 

[Sith the turtle]

Btw, I've enjoyed following this thread, I'm raising my first Tiger sal larvae at the moment and its given me an idea of what's in store.

You'll love them, once they know that people = food, they'll always be out looking and begging for food, they're adorable :happy:

 

[Foree]

I loved feeding him when he was aquadic, he knew people=food but it's almost like he forgot after metamorphosis

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[Foree]

Ok I've tried taking him out and hand feeding him and I'm pretty sure the only time he has came out of his burrow is when I've dug him up should I start to worry? He looks healthy but he hasn't eaten since the transition to a dirt habitat.

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[slowfoot]

Here's what I do for my skittish ones. Dig him up, and put him in a plastic container of some kind with a secure lid. Then put a some appropriate sized worms or worm pieces in - I count them so I can see how many are eaten. Cover the container to make it dark, and leave him for 30 min to an hour. Then check to see if anything's been eaten. Put him back in his normal cage. Repeat once a week or so, or until he will eat regularly.

I would also try a few small crickets in his regular home, too. My new morphs prefer them to worms. Just don't put in too many at a time.

 

[Donna001]

I still can't believe how different Jabba looks now.
He seems quite happy sitting on your hand. :happy:
I hope he starts to eat soon.

 

[Foree]

I changed his bedding to coconut fiber on Wednesday.

He still hasn't eaten so I tried putting him in a container in the dark, he's been in there for an hour or so and still hasn't eaten, I'm going to leave him in the container while I go to work and hopefully when I come home there will be less worms, I may try and pick up some crickets while I'm in town.

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[Donna001]

I hope that Jabba eats something soon.
I know that you must be very worried, but he doesn't look skinny or unwell. Jabba still looks quite solid, so try not to worry too much.
:happy: