Recently metamorphosized tiger salamander...

S

sari

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I got a larval tiger salamander (his name is Fido) about a month and a half ago, and he started metamorphosizing a few weeks ago. At first, he was living in an entirely aquatic set-up, and eating frozen bloodworms. He had a big rock structure thing sticking out of the water to climb onto, but I never saw him go up onto it. About a week ago I noticed him chilling in the plants near the surface, with his nose sticking out, so I figured it was time to move him to an environment with some serious land...
I went to the pet store, bought some Eco-Earth (the coconut fibre stuff) and some moss, and made Fido a nice new little home. There's a pretty thick layer, for him to burrow in, and I put a big bowl of water in the middle at first, since I was a little afraid that he wouldn't really like the land at first... but it got really gross, so now there's a shallower water dish in there.
Ok, so for the problems... First, he doesn't really seem to eat anymore, and he's looking a little skinnier than before... can he still eat frozen bloodworms? Should they go into the water, or onto a rock on the land or something? He used to be really cool... he would sit at the edge of the tank and watch me all the time, and now he flips out if i open the lid... And he spends a lot of time in his water bowl.... The smaller one that's in there now is just big enough for him to completely submerge himself (he's just a little guy). So, should I be worried? Is there any way to get him to eat? Should I set up the terrarium differently? Any help would be greatly appreciated....
 
Try live foods, crickets, earthworms, and waxworms usually work great. Frozen or freeze dried foods normally don`t work too well after morphing b/c he has to get used to his new environment and the movements of live food tend to stimulate them to eat.
 
a lot of animals dont eat during metamorphosis, its a stressful time. try feeding chopped up earth worms. wiggle them in fromt of him. if he hasnt lost his gills yet, he shouldnt be on land though...

best of luck
 
He's lost his gills completely - he's looked fully adult for about a week or two now... I've been looking everywhere for earthworms, but they're really hard to find living in the city. There's no bait shops or anything, and I haven't found a pet shop that sells them yet. I even went out looking for them on sidewalks when it was raining, but couldn't find any. I guess the pigeons got them first. Anyway, I know the pet store near me has live mealworms, and something else... maybe bloodworms? No earthworms though. I guess I could try crickets, but I was hoping to be able to avoid them (my old roommate accidentally let some loose in my room when taking care of my firebelly toad a few years ago... it wasn't fun)
 
Hey i live in a city too and yes, getting earthworms are quite imposible. But if you chance upon any flower pots or stones on top of soil, you can lift them up, sometimes you get earthworms, othertimes centipedes or slugs. personally, i won't feed centipedes to my sallies...

Sam
 
I live in a city too and it is EASY to find earthworms! You guys must have sportfishing shops in your city, they always have them around here.
50 for about 4 euros. I mean where do fishers go to get bait? Earthworms are great fishing baits, so they should have them. I mean I live in a medium sized city, 200 000 inhabitants and I know at least 5 stores selling them.
 
It's not that there aren't ANY bait shops in the city, but I live in Toronto, Canada. This city is really large and spread out, and our transit system leaves something to be desired. So getting to anywhere that might sell earthworms would take at least an hour or two

So would mealworms be ok? And is it really safe to feed him earthworms that I might find on sidewalks or under rocks in the city anyway? I mean, I'm a little worried about the polluted city rain and dirt that the worms live in.
 
Maybe he's just not ready for a lot of land yet. You may want to just change the setup a bit.
 
Well I guess mealworms work, they are not very nutritious though and most salamanders refuse them but go ahead and try!
 
Where i am, we use mangrove worms for bait and trust me their the most easily pissed off species of worms and won't hesitate to bite. Mealworms?? won't the chitin give em constipation?
 
Ok I gotta have this earthworm thing cleared up, is the term earthworm a just a bunch of species that live in soil or what?? I call nightcrawlers(lumbricus terrestris) earthworms!
 
Earthworm, like "newt" is not a precise term. Nightcrawlers are certainly earthworms, but so are lots of other species/genera.
 
Hi Mike!
Like your page it is my main food page(food for my pets not me thankyou)
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So naturally I went there when trying to enlighten myself regarding earthworms!

"Cultured worms are not really "earthworms", rather "compost worms". Not the distasteful Eisenia foetida from your compost heap, but redworms or Dendrobaena - buy a starter."

Eisenia foetida is a redworm(the most usual)! At least I think so!
Ok, I want to start my own little colony but since I live in Sweden and not the UK or the states there are no places to buy a starter, the shipment from the UK is more expensive than the worms themselves....
So how do I find good worms for cultures in the nature?? The most usual one are eisenia foetida and lumbricus terrestris which arent suitable, how do I tell these these two from each other btw?

Thanks for having a very good page!
Cheers Jesper
 
Yes, the worms which are usually cultured are not true "earthworms, but "compost worms". Still, everyone calls them earth worms. Confusing, isn't it?
Telling earthworm species apart is almost impossible, even for the experts. Your best bet is defintely to but a starter. If you pay for one, it will eventually pay you back many times over. try:
http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/shop/index.html
They will ship to Sweden.
 
I just found out that I have Dendrobaena!! I thought they were lumbricus terrestris but no! I called the wormfarmer!
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So now I am going to go to your page to get some info on starting my own culture!
 
Jesper
Dendrabaena worms are very easy to culture using the methods on Mikes site, so once you get the culture going you will have an endless supply of these worms.
 
Ok, sorry if I am hijacking the thread but its in the thread area...
I am preparing the culture right now, I have a 30*30*15cm container which I will fill with top soil(used for potting plants), how many worms shall I add? And how much water shall I add? I read that these worms like really humid soil...
How often can I take out worms from the colony?

Thanks for responding!
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Humid, yes, but not wet. Give them a few weeks to settle in and start breeding. Then you'll have more than enough, I harvest from my cultures at least twice a week.
 
I have added 70 worms to 8l of soil can I add another 50 without crowding them?
 
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