My tiger salamander rejects earthworms

[amphiuma]

I just picked up a young tiger salamander from a Reptile expo. He's about the size of a large newt, so it seems he's recently metamorphosed. I fed him an earthworm initially, but when I checked on him a short time later, I found that he'd regurgitated the worm in his water dish. When I fed him another, he snapped it up initially, then spat it out right away, and spent the next few minutes gagging, reeling his head from side to side etc., as if he were disgusted by the taste. I was a bit confused, since the the worms I was using were of a common variety sold as bait (Eisenia hortensis), and one that my Cynops and Paramesotriton newts accept regularly.

I read elsewhere that a related species, E. fetida, exudes a repulsive anti-predator secretion, so my guess is that this must be the case for E. hortensis as well, unless I'm wrong and someone else wants to enlighten me. Is my tiger salamander more likely to accept a Lumbricus type worm instead? Or has he already been conditioned for something else, like mealworms or crickets?

 

[Otterwoman]

I would try everything I could until I found something he would eat, and then try switching him to something easier or better later if what he would eat was difficult to get, or not a good whole diet.

 

[Wy Renegade]

I've had pretty good luck with crickets and isopods with mine. Is it possible it might also be a factor of size in regards to the worms?

 

[Chinadog]

E. hortensis tend to have an unpleasent odour about them as well. Not as bad as E. fetida, but some sals will still refuse them. I find Canadian nightcrawlers (Lumbricus terrestris) are very good for getting fussy eaters onto worms. If you need to cut them up into manageable pieces, just feed the tail ends to begin with. I don't know why, but the tail seems to be the most appealing part. Once your tiger settles down you can try offering the hortensis again from time to time and he should eventually accept them. If you make sure he's pretty hungry before you try, he might be in more of a mood to try something different.

 

[amphiuma]

OK, good news. I bought some Canadian nightcrawlers and fed my tiger the top half of one worm (before I read the previous post) and he accepted it, but appeared to be struggling with it. He exhibited a reaction similar (but not identical to) his reaction to E.hortensis. he thrashed around a bit, even scratching his own head with his hind foot like a sea lion. I've never seen any caudate do this. I watched him for a bit, but unfortunately, I had to go to work before long. Around the time I left, he was still working on the worm, the top half wriggling in and out of his mouth from time to time. When returned later that evening, I found no trace of the worm in his water dish or the surrounding substrate, so I assumed he ate it and held everything down.

The next day, for the sake of variety, I offered him a dead cricket at the end of a pair of forceps (this one was from a container of foodstuffs for my girlfriend's chameleon) and he accepted it eagerly. Later on, I successfully fed him the lower half of a Lumbricus worm, which he didn't seem to struggle with at all. He's quite an attentive fellow, and he usually looks up at me when I remove the lid for his little enclosure. Replacing the artificial moss after checking on him in the substrate below feels sort of like tucking a child into bed.

Thank you all for the advice!