New baby redbacks( please help)

[kimba007]

ok guys im new to salamanders. How you all doing. i found 2 juevenile redbacks (Plethodon cinereus) still in their slate phase and have them in a nice, but admitidly small tank. it is furnished well and properly. its like a one gallan octogon tank with a slanted moss ground, a rocky area, a small water cup with racks( a bottom of a water bottle cut off. theyve gone in it a couple times but it is mainly for humidity) at the correct temperature but they will not eat. tonite is there second night.
i am worried, how long can they wait and what can i do to entice them to eat. should i cut up worms or feed them whole. sorry about my lack of knowlege haha.
This is my first post btw so go ahead and tell me if i screwed up somethin. thanks guys.

 

[Kaysie]

Color phase isn't correlated to age.

Redbacks have kind of a finicky diet. They like ants and spiders rather than worms. I'd get a big tank and stock it full of leaf-litter critters.

 

[firedreams]

I keep two dark-phase red backs. When I first acquired them, they were very shy and refused to eat. After about a month or so, they started to become more outgoing. I recommend feeding them wingless fruit flies. Mine really enjoy these, and they are easy to feed because you just drop a couple dozen of the flies into the tank around sunset, and the redbacks will come out to feast during the night. Springtails are also great -although (in my experience) they are more difficult to obtain.

My red backs will now eat small (chopped) earthworm pieces from tweezers, but it took several months before they were brave enough to do this.

You mention that you have a water dish in your tank - this is not necessary for this species. I would recommend removing the water dish, but making sure to mist the tank on a regular basis (once every other day or so) with dechlorinated water. If you are concerned about accidentally making the tank too wet, I recommend purchasing a ground water moisture meter from a local gardening store. Essentially, this is a metal rod that you insert into the substrate. The meter will then provide a reading on a 1-10 scale of how wet your substrate is. Try to keep your substrate in the middle of the moisture range.

Hope this helps! Red backs are a wonderful species, and with patience, they will repay your efforts many times over!

 

[kimba007]

Wiat so am i just supposed to drop a bunch of critters in with them? and the water dish is for moisture since i currently do not have a mister. thanks so much for the advice. i just need a little advice to start it off haha. thanks guys:happy: