Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So how much do you guys think I should feed a 5 inch Fire Salamander? I was told by the guy who sold it to me I should feed 6 crickets twice a week. Does this sound right?

Also, its pretty normal for my Salamander to hide all the time in its rock cave, right? It seems like a really slow and shy creature.
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1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

4-6 approperiatly sized crickets every 3-4 days sounds good, but try to vary the diet, include earthworms, mealworms, wax worms, silk worms, rosie reds/ small goldfish, small cockroaches, and an occasional pinkie mouse, if the salamander is big enough.
as for constantly hiding, yes, fire salamanders, as well as most spotted salamanders (blue, yellow, jeffersons, etc) are generally very shy and spend most of their natural life hiding and only come out to breed or at night when they need to find food.

Are feeder fish really safe to feed? I hear mixed opinions. Fish are probably easier to feed with tongs, right?
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0.1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

many people are against feeding fish because many times the local pet stores get sick and dying fish as feeders and don't take care of them like they do a normal "pet" goldfish. if you have a pet store that you trust and will let you hand pick your feeder fish, then you should be fine feeding them.you should pick the fish that are most anxious to stay away from the net, the ones with no difficulty swimming, have no signs of illness, like blot, white spots, abnormal sized eyes, etc. I work with 8 different petshops around me and sometimes they get good looking feeder fish and other times they all look like they are ready to die right then and there. it is up to you, i have never had a problem with feeding fish to any of my animals.

Typically you want to avoid goldfish due to the high saturated fat content. This makes them a less suitable feeder choice when compared to live bearers, cold water fish and salt water fish.

Ed

So feeder Guppies and Comets are better then the Roseys, right?

Also, what happens if I do get a sick fish on accident and feed it to my Salamander (or anything else) Are they doomed?
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0.1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

guppies and rosies are the better of the three, and even though golfish (comets) are high in fat, this is not a bad thing as long as they are fed in moderation, say use them for one feeding every 3-4 weeks. if you do feed a sick fish to your salamander it is not doomed, as long as the fish is not contagiously sick, if it carries parasites or fungus then it is possible to transmit to your salamander, which is why you must be careful in choosing you feeders, and even captive breeding and raising doesn't guarantee healthy fish. if you are truely worried about being able to get healthy fish or don't know how to visualize the difference between an apparently healthy and sick fish, then you may need to consider using some of the different types of feeders, i mentioned others in the first response. fish are a good source of nutrients for your salamander, but sould not be the only food used, still feed crickets and others, and a 5 inch fire should be able to take a small pinky mouse, but only one every 6 weeks or so, and don't feed your sally for about 4 days before and wait for about one week after, to allow for plenty of room and digestion time.

Out of curiosity, on what are you basing the frequency of feeding?

On what are you basing the idea that high cholesterol food item is okay every 6 weeks?

Ed

I know what a healthy looking fish "looks" like. You guys know more then me, what do you suggest? Right now i'm feeding crickets. I'm going to go out and buy meal worms soon, and in a few weeks with the coming of the fishing season, earthworms will become more readily availible. If you guys suggest I feed a fish or two every now and then, then i'll do it. And i'll probably feed them to my frogs also. I just get nervous when I see about 200 8 cent fish in one tank. I can get the Roseys easy. Guppies arent as easy, but doable.
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0.1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

the more variety in the diet, the more nutrients the animal will get, fish provide nutrients and proteins that insects don't. whether you feed fish or not is up to you. i recommend it and i feed all willing amphibians that i have fish once or twice every three weeks. the frequency and amout of fish fed is up to your better judgement based on the quality of fish obtained and the frequency in which you obtain them. your worries about the fish being overstocked in a tank at pet stores is lagitmate, and whether you choose to use them or not is, again, up to you. i prefer to use rosie reds because they generally come in healthier and have less health complications from overstocking. goldfish tend to come in sick and are packed more tightly into tanks than rosies are, so the probility of contracting illness from the other fish or becoming septic from the crowded water is higher. in my opinion, i would feed fish only when you see healthy ones and only if the store allows for you to hand pick the feeders and watch them catch them to make sure they are the ones you want. many times the best way to find healthy fish in a tank is by trying to catch them, the hardest to catch are generally the healthiest. but again, use your best judgement.