Possibly starving salamander.

[beatrice]

We have a Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), and have had a terrible time finding food for him this winter. We live in NH, so the earthworms from the garden aren't accessible, and that was his usual food. I've never been able to get him to eat any other kinds of worms since he came out of the water, and though he eats some of the crickets I put in there, he is still very skinny. His spine and ribs are showing, and I am very concerned that he is going to die if we can't find a source of food he will eat.

Locally, we have access to crickets and mealworms or waxworms (he will NOT eat either of those). I've looked for worms online, but they all seem much too big for him, and I have to buy such a large quantity that I think a majority would die before he ate them. Worms will be coming to the surface in the next month or so (if it ever warms up!), but I want to feed him now. Now, now, now! It's been very frustrating bringing home one thing after another that he won't eat and watching him get so thin...

Please help!

 

[ferret_corner]

When I've had to trick my sal into eating waxworms I piggy backed a cricket on it. A gut loaded cricket.

I put the worm on the counter, put the cricket on top and pick both up, when the legs of the cricket tickeled the salamanders' face he'd bite and get both.

gut loaded and calcium dusted crickets are good meals if he'll eat them.

 

[Kaysie]

Most of the time walmart or a pet shop (Petsmart, usually) carry earthworms all year long.

 

[beatrice]

Most of the time walmart or a pet shop (Petsmart, usually) carry earthworms all year long.

Thanks for the information, but they don't in my area-- I've checked repeatedly for months and asked if they will special order worms for me, which they will not. Even the "specialty" pet shop an hour away doesn't. There are some places that sell bait for ice fishing, but those worms are so huge he can't eat them, and he won't eat them cut up.

I will try to encourage him to keep eating crickets (they are gut loaded/dusted), but I don't think I can trick him into biting anything, because he won't eat from my hand anymore. It's sad, because he used to eat anything I dangled in front of him...

 

[vistajpdf]

I'm sorry to hear about this. Are you sure it's strictly a picky eater situation? Do you have an exotic vet you could consult to be sure there isn't an underlying illness? If he used to be hand fed and now won't accept anything, perhaps there is more to it? I hope not, but you'd think the survival instinct would be great enough to overcome less than desirable food choices, though not always.

I understand your frustration as I had it when my newts had babies and I could not find Daphnia anywhere locally - and we're in a big city in Floriday. I eventually did find some that I had shipped to me a week ago.

Best of luck - keep searching the net - that's how I finally found the live Daphnia.

Dana

 

[RPM]

Try digging close to the foundation of your house. I live in Mass. and in past years I've found earthworms in mid-to late Feb. I dug up a few small worms a couple of weeks ago during a mini-warm spell for my tigers. I used to maintain Spotted sals and would also run out of food during the winter, but they always made it through.
Good luck,
Richard

 

[Jennewt]

Thanks for the information, but they don't in my area-- I've checked repeatedly for months and asked if they will special order worms for me, which they will not. Even the "specialty" pet shop an hour away doesn't. There are some places that sell bait for ice fishing, but those worms are so huge he can't eat them, and he won't eat them cut up.

I will try to encourage him to keep eating crickets (they are gut loaded/dusted), but I don't think I can trick him into biting anything, because he won't eat from my hand anymore. It's sad, because he used to eat anything I dangled in front of him...

I've had good luck using the big Canadian nightcrawlers cut into pieces. If I cut the pieces large enough, they continue to wiggle for quite a while. The tail end tip piece is especially useful, as it wiggles for a long time. I put the food on the ground (or on a plastic lid) near the sal and leave the room. Given privacy, most sals that like worms will go for this.

Good luck!

 

[jbherpin]

i agree, persistence may pay off!

-jbherpin-

 

[Pacmanfrogz]

Don't you have any bait shops over their in NH? Is he really skinny?

 

[beatrice]

Thanks for all of the replies, everyone. I had tried cutting up the big nightcrawlers and leaving them, but I just found dead dry worm pieces later every time I tried it.

As for having bait shops-- we do, and that's where I got the nightcrawlers, but all the shops I called over the months either didn't have any worms, or only had the huge ones. Persistence did indeed pay off, because I finally found one yesterday that has relatively smaller worms (trout bait-- they are still on the large side, at about 3 or so inches). I couldn't get him to eat one from my hand, so I left it, and I can't tell if he ate it or it just dug itself in. I'll be moving him into a different tank today, so will find out then.

Thanks again, and have a beautiful day-- Beatrice