Still having earthworm trouble

[Jackulwulf]

A week or so ago I posted about having trouble getting my tiger to eat his earthworms. Is it possible that perhaps he just doesn't like them at all? I've cut them up, washed them off, fed him them whole, wiped off the slime, and he still only eats maybe half a worm or so and then doesn't take them. He does act like he still wants to eat and he seems very restless. So the only explanation I can see is he just doesn't like them. Could that be true?

Also I wanted to know if maggots are a good substitute to earthworms? Its the only thing available in this area other then crickets so I wanted to try them. Do I need to dust them with anything before I feed him the maggots like the crickets? Thanks for the help.

 

[lilsoul]

What type of earthworms are you useing?

 

[caudatadude28]

If I had to guess you are trying to feed your tiger sal "red wigglers". They secrete and very foul tasting and smelling slime when agitated. It is not clear if it the secretion is harmful but most caudates refuse them. They are often at baitshops, walmart, gas stations. Try chopped night crawlers or dig your own worms from a safe location(chemical free, manure free, away from farms that use pesticides,herbicides, fungisides, etc.) I havent heard of tiger that refuses much of anything. If you mean waxies when you say maggots, they are a good treat but are too high in fat to form a staple. If your talking about pheonix worms, they are high in calcium and quite nutritous, but are expensive. If your talking about "spikes", I dont know but they are probably a good treat. Earthworms are the best staple. Gutloaded and dusted crickets are good too. Be sure that no extra crickets are left in with your tiger(s). They will bite your tiger(s) and the bites are usually prone to infection. Good luck!

 

[firesalamander]

No wonder my fires werent eating them. Ill try regular worms.

 

[Rikkoshaye]

I have a Tiger that isn't very interested in earthworms at all. However, he goes absolutely nuts for crickets. If you haven't tried it already, I'd suggest getting a few and dropping them near your sally. Maybe he'll like them!

 

[Jackulwulf]

As far as I can tell the earthworms are nightcrawlers, the slime they produce is clear and it doesn't smell bad so I doubt that they are red wrigglers. And the maggots that I can get around here are just regular fly larva. I may have to go with the crickets because other then maggots that's all that's available in my small town. I did order some vitamin dust to use that is suppose to contain a wide variety of vitamin's that he'd need. I have fed him crickets before and he does eat them quite voraciously but because they aren't that great in nutrition I was hoping to try the maggots if they were better for him. On the care sheet that lists the nutritional values of the different foods, the fly larva seemed to be pretty close in nutrition as the earthworms.

 

[Jennewt]

Crickets, periodically dusted, and occasional maggots would be just fine as a staple diet. There are a few odd sals that do refuse earthworms.

 

[xNewtx]

I have a paddle tail newt. I wiggled a worm in his face and didn't seam to interested, but I don't think he was to hungry. I put in a little tiny ant and it splashed around and he was watching it, but I just got done feeding it a big piece of shrimp like 3 days before so.....

 

[Jackulwulf]

Crickets, periodically dusted, and occasional maggots would be just fine as a staple diet. There are a few odd sals that do refuse earthworms.

Alright thanks, I'll try that.

 

[Jackulwulf]

Wow, what a picky little bugger he is...u.u;; I tried to feed him maggots and he won't take those either. But I know he'll eat because when he thinks I have something else for him to eat he lunges. So I guess its the crickets. Its a good thing I just got my order of vitamin powder today so I'll have to go pick up crickets for him tomorrow.

 

[pete]

If your tiger is relatively new, sometimes the stress of switching environments can be a bit overwhelming for it. Worms can be a tricky thing for them to figure out. You're best bet with a fussy new tiger is to start with crickets and leave him to his own devices (keep an eye on the number of crickets over the day). Usually once they get something in their bellies and relax a bit their stomach takes over. Then you can try to feed him some worms again once he begins to associate your presence with food.

 

[Jackulwulf]

Well I have had him for close to a month now and when I fed him crickets before, I fed him by hand with a pair of tweezers and I've done so since he first started eating. So when he sees my hand and the tweezers he knows there's food coming and he reacts right away. Then he sees that its worms and he just sort of ignores it. I'll try feeding him worms and maggots again after feeding him crickets for a while.

 

[Jan]

One of my tigers refuses worms - he'll only eat crickets and I have had him for 9 years....isn't a newbie, getting used to his environment sort of thing for him. As Jennewt said, there are some oddball sals that do refuse worms. So for this guy of mine, its gutloaded and dusted crickets.

 

[Jackulwulf]

lol, I just had to end up with the silly oddball. Alright, thanks for the help.