Thank goodness for this site! After doing my best to care for my salamander for the past 6 years with almost no resources to refer to, I've been devouring all of the information I've found here over the past few days. Of course, with new information comes new questions. First, a little background...
My salamander has refused to eat his normal diet of tubifex worm pellets (which he's enjoyed for years) for the past several weeks. We also discovered that he had what appeared to be a sore on his skin. This all comes after months of admitted poor care (i.e. his habitat was not cleaned for some time as I have been busy taking care of my new baby). We found a salamander enthusiast online who suggested that our salamander might be having some trouble shedding his skin. After soaking him in a mild salt and water mixture, it seems that was certainly the case; his skin was shed and his sore appears to have improved. However, our salamander is still refusing to eat. I just bought some mealworms which will hopefully be more appetizing to him.
My question is this...I read on this site that peat moss is too acidic to be a good subtrate for salamanders, and although my salamander has lived in a peat moss/river rock habitat for years, I'm thinking it might be better to switch to top soil. I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this idea. Should I go ahead and change out the peat moss for top soil or should I assume that if my salamander has been okay (aside from recent issues) for the past 4 years, he will continue to be okay? If I do decide to replace the peat moss, is now a good time to do that or will it provide additional stressors to an already stressed out critter?
Thanks for your help!
My salamander has refused to eat his normal diet of tubifex worm pellets (which he's enjoyed for years) for the past several weeks. We also discovered that he had what appeared to be a sore on his skin. This all comes after months of admitted poor care (i.e. his habitat was not cleaned for some time as I have been busy taking care of my new baby). We found a salamander enthusiast online who suggested that our salamander might be having some trouble shedding his skin. After soaking him in a mild salt and water mixture, it seems that was certainly the case; his skin was shed and his sore appears to have improved. However, our salamander is still refusing to eat. I just bought some mealworms which will hopefully be more appetizing to him.
My question is this...I read on this site that peat moss is too acidic to be a good subtrate for salamanders, and although my salamander has lived in a peat moss/river rock habitat for years, I'm thinking it might be better to switch to top soil. I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this idea. Should I go ahead and change out the peat moss for top soil or should I assume that if my salamander has been okay (aside from recent issues) for the past 4 years, he will continue to be okay? If I do decide to replace the peat moss, is now a good time to do that or will it provide additional stressors to an already stressed out critter?
Thanks for your help!
