Question: Lag in appetite...

[MessyJessy]

Hi all.... Our sweet tiger salamander Spotsy whose appetite has been voracious up until the last week is now refusing to eat. We vary his food, which is always live between phoenix worms, meal worms, crickets, and night crawlers. Up until this point we would feed him every other day and he would BEG for food, he knew what time it was as soon as we walked towards his humble abode. For the past week he has not even bothered to come fully out of his burrow or hide, there is no more begging, and it doesn't matter how much the food squirms he will not take it. His tank is clean, his humidity is good, there are varying degrees of moistness through out the tank, and yet he has just stopped eating... any ideas? We are very concerned, he is as much a member of the family as out turtles and our dog... HELP PLEASE!!!

 

[jewett]

At what temperature do you keep your salamander? Its normal for these guys to have a diminished appetite and want to stay burrowed for longer periods of time in cooler temps and is often no need for concern. Is this the first winter you have had the sal?

 

[MessyJessy]

Yes this is the first winter we have had him. We got him in the fall, at the beginning of October, and like I said, from the time we got him up until a week ago his appetite has been amazing, and then it just stopped. He won't eat at all. We have however had a very cold snap the past 5 days or so, it has been with windchill in the range of -45 to -48, and so the ambient temperature in the house is less. He is kept in my eldest two son's room in the basement. However the drop in temperature has been so minute, I am not sure how that could possibly effect him. Normally downstairs it runs about 21, in the past few days it's run about 18 to 20c. I was told when we first got him that we did not need to have a heating lamp for him, so we do not have one. Is that something I should consider???

 

[Kaysie]

Definitely skip the heating lamp. I'm currently keeping my tigers at 12c and they're still eating just fine.

Keep offering wiggly foods. Sometimes they just go off eating with the changing seasons (less sunlight) too. Until he hasn't eaten in a couple of weeks, I wouldn't freak out.