Waterdog not eating?

[Ekmanor]

First off I know I'm posting quite a few questions, but I swear I've been up the past week reading everything I can about newts/salamanders and I've encountered another problem.

I have been feeding my Waterdog some Dillies for the past few weeks and he started to lose his gills and his eyes are popped out a little and his color began to change, everything was good.

But out of nowhere he just started to lose his appetite. I used to cut the Dillies in half so it wouldn't be so intimidating to him, but now I cut it up into bite sized pieces.

I feed him by tweezers btw.

His feeding time usually goes like this: I cut 2 Dillies into 5 bite sized pieces and I take a piece with some tweezers, I dangle the piece right in front of him and he turns and tries to bite it, but every time he tries to take that first piece he misses and then he won't even look at the food as if were disgusting. And he MIGHT try again in a hour or two, but he just repeats the same process every time

He hasn't eaten anything for the past 3 days and I'm getting worried.

 

[sde]

First off, I don't know what Dillies are?
Secondly, it sounds like he is morphing, and they often times don't eat during metamorphosis. The fact that he hasn't eaten in the last three days is fine, three days isn't long at all. They can go weeks without food, obviously though it isn't safe nor healthy. I would provide a land area that he can easily climb on to, making morphing easier for him. One way you can accomplish this is to slightly slant his tank, thus creating a small land area, however you may have to remove a bit of water in order for a land area to actually form. That is okay, it will only further simulate a pond drying up in the summer, thus encouraging morphing. He may not eat at all during or directly after metamorphoses, so don't be too concerned about that. Continue to offer some food, but don't offer so often and be so persistent that it becomes stressful to him. Also, if "Dillies" aren't earthworms or night crawlers then I would switch to earthworms or night crawlers. They are more nutritionally complete and wiggle which attracts the attention of the salamander. And it might be worth dropping his food in the tank and leaving him, he may eat it after a bit. Once he has morphed to the point that he is spending most his time on land remove him from his aquatic tank immediately because drowning becomes a danger. Put him then in a terrestrial setup with a decent sized water bowl, and provide a lot of deep soil. Coco fiber works well for soil but it might be best to have a layer of gravel underneath to provide proper drainage. Provide areas to hide, and maybe build a hide into the dirt to simulate a burrow. As a terrestrial individual he may spend a lot of time underground or burrowing.
Here are two links that should be of use, if you haven't seen them already.
Caudata Culture Articles - Tiger Salamander 101
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tiger salamander

I hope this helps, and good luck with him! -Seth

 

[Asevernnnn]

Dillies are baby nightcrawlers

 

[Ekmanor]

First off, I don't know what Dillies are?
Secondly, it sounds like he is morphing, and they often times don't eat during metamorphosis. The fact that he hasn't eaten in the last three days is fine, three days isn't long at all. They can go weeks without food, obviously though it isn't safe nor healthy. I would provide a land area that he can easily climb on to, making morphing easier for him. One way you can accomplish this is to slightly slant his tank, thus creating a small land area, however you may have to remove a bit of water in order for a land area to actually form. That is okay, it will only further simulate a pond drying up in the summer, thus encouraging morphing. He may not eat at all during or directly after metamorphoses, so don't be too concerned about that. Continue to offer some food, but don't offer so often and be so persistent that it becomes stressful to him. Also, if "Dillies" aren't earthworms or night crawlers then I would switch to earthworms or night crawlers. They are more nutritionally complete and wiggle which attracts the attention of the salamander. And it might be worth dropping his food in the tank and leaving him, he may eat it after a bit. Once he has morphed to the point that he is spending most his time on land remove him from his aquatic tank immediately because drowning becomes a danger. Put him then in a terrestrial setup with a decent sized water bowl, and provide a lot of deep soil. Coco fiber works well for soil but it might be best to have a layer of gravel underneath to provide proper drainage. Provide areas to hide, and maybe build a hide into the dirt to simulate a burrow. As a terrestrial individual he may spend a lot of time underground or burrowing.
Here are two links that should be of use, if you haven't seen them already.
Caudata Culture Articles - Tiger Salamander 101
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tiger salamander

I hope this helps, and good luck with him! -Seth

Lol, like Aaron said: Dillies are baby night crawlers. I already knew he was morphing, I just didn't know they don't usually eat when they are morphing.

I already have a terrestrial tank set up, and I do have his current tank tilted, so it's all up to him now!

Thanks for the help!

 

[sde]

Lol, like Aaron said: Dillies are baby night crawlers. I already knew he was morphing, I just didn't know they don't usually eat when they are morphing.

I already have a terrestrial tank set up, and I do have his current tank tilted, so it's all up to him now!

Thanks for the help!

Ahh, ok, I even looked it up and everything and I couldn't find out what it was!

Sounds like you are all set and have it sorted, well done.