URGENT: Provoking to eat

[ScalelessTime]

I have a cave salamander (long tail salamander) that is a baby to about the size of a juvenile. I have been trying to feed him/her bloodworms and rubbing it on his/her nose but they have yet to take it. I also tried crickets as well, still nothing. Is there a way I can feed the salamander or at least convince it? Every time I try to feed him/her, they either raise they head and ignore it or slowly walk or swim away.

Help me, they have gone without eating for about 3 days. I am hoping the bloodworms did not sink to the bottom of the container and he/she ate some.

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I got a reply on another forum that the salamander is stressed. Ho do I solve this?

http://i59.tinypic.com/t4ybld.jpg

[Singa]

Hi I am not an expert on Salamanders so take what I say with a grain of salt.
Firstly can I ask if you recently got him or have you had him for a long time?
If you just got him recently I suggest giving him some time to relax and get used to the new environment. When I first got my Fire Salamander he wouldn't take food for 2 weeks , after awhile he just started eating. Hope this helped .

[ScalelessTime]

Thanks. I've had him since last Saturday.

[Singa]

Then I think you should give him some time to settle in first . Do update us if he takes any food. All the best!

[ScalelessTime]

I have put a cloth over it so it can be some-what dark and have also set him/her near an air conditioner for cooling and constantly moisturize the tank.

[Singa]

Try offering it food every 4-5 days. Reptiles and Amphibians have quite a low metabolism rate so they wont need to eat very often. I feed my Fire Salamander
5-6 crickets every 6-7 days.

[ScalelessTime]

Thank you.

[formica]

agree with the above, give him some time, put him somewhere dark and quiet and let him settle in

[Pareeeee]

First, as it's been said, give him some private time for a while so he can settle in.

It's been a lot of years since I'be kept amphibians, but I would suggest not feeding bloodworms at first (or ever as a main diet). Try appropriately sized crickets (no bigger that the width of his head if I remember correctly). Once he begins eating those, ventually start grabbing the crickets with the tongs and feeding him from them. Once he is eating the live ones readily from the tongs, try killing the crickets and offering them from the tongs. You should be able to slowly migrate to other foods after this. You should be able to feed frozen or freeze-dried eventually, but don't expect him to take it overnight. They prefer frozen over freeze-dried, by the way. If you want to feed dry foods, they must be moistened first.

[ScalelessTime]

That helps a lot. Thanks again, Paree!