Salamanders are one of the most rewarding amphibians to own as a pet. They are beautiful to look at and are interesting to watch go about their daily activities, especially when they eat. If you’re thinking of adopting one of your own, you may be wondering: what do salamanders eat?
In general, salamanders are carnivorous and rely on other animals as a food source. A salamander’s diet changes as it grows. When they are babies, also known as nymphs, they eat tiny microorganisms because their bodies are not large enough to accommodate any other prey items.
However, as salamanders grow, they can consume larger prey items that are more nutritionally dense and tasty! These items can be worms, insects, feeder fish, and even animals as large as baby mice depending on the salamander’s size and species!
The type of food a salamander will eat is also dependent on the type of environment they live in. Aquatic salamanders have different diets than terrestrial salamanders because their prey items are adapted to the surrounding environment, too!
Read on to discover what salamanders eat from the time they are little nymphs to the time they are fully-grown adults!
What Do Baby Salamanders Eat?
Baby salamanders, or nymphs, are very small, so they need food that is appropriately tiny in size. If their food items are too large, then your baby salamander may ignore the food altogether and starve, or they could try and eat the food and choke or become impacted.
Impaction happens when there is a blockage in an animal’s digestive tract. This blockage prevents nutrient absorption, causes cramping and pain, prevents regular bowel movements, and will start to rot and poison your salamander from the inside if left untreated.
Your baby salamander will need a lot of food while they are growing, as their metabolism is very fast during this stage to accommodate such rapid growth. This means you’ll need to do daily feedings. Babies should be fed small aquatic organisms like daphnia (more commonly known as water fleas), plankton, and cyclops (as in tiny freshwater crustaceans, not the one-eyed mythical beasts!).
As your salamander grows, they will gradually be able to eat larger items. From two weeks of age onward, you can typically start feeding them larger daphnia and other insect larvae such as mosquito larvae and brine shrimp larvae!
As they start getting closer to the two-month mark, most salamanders can start eating a typical adult diet–however, all food items you offer them should still be cut into smaller pieces.
If your salamander is not eating what you offer them, the pieces could be too big. Cut them up even smaller. As a general rule, the size of the food should not be larger than the width of the space between their eyes.
What Do Adult Salamanders Eat?
As we briefly touched on earlier, what a fully-grown salamander eats varies depending on whether they are aquatic or terrestrial. Both varieties are carnivorous and mainly feed on different kinds of insects and other small invertebrates.
Aquatic salamanders spend most or all of their lives underwater. This group includes species like axolotls and tiger salamanders. Tiger salamanders do still need access to a terrestrial platform to bask on from time to time; however, they will typically eat in the water.
Terrestrial salamanders such as spotted salamanders spend the majority of their adult lives on land and not in the water. However, they still need to be kept moist and live in an enclosure with fairly high humidity levels. This means they will feed on land, and their prey items need to be able to be offered on dry land, too.
Feeder Worms
Salamanders can eat a wide range of different worms.
- Bloodworms are excellent feeder worms to offer aquatic salamanders because their bright red coloring stands out when they are dropped into the water. Blood worms are also fairly small, which means you’ll need to feed a lot of them to your adult salamander. They should ideally be paired with another feeder item from another category.
- Nightcrawlers (large earthworms) are good sources of various nutrients. They can be quite large, which means for smaller and younger salamanders they will need to be cut down in size.
- Tubifex or sludge worms are favorite snacks for many salamanders, though they aren’t the best staple feeders.
- Mealworms are quite dry and not as nutritionally beneficial as other worms. However, they can make a crunchy snack for terrestrial salamanders.
Feeder Insects
Insects are a great source of calcium and other nutrients for salamanders.
Terrestrial insects such as flies, grasshoppers, crickets, dubia roaches, isopods, and maggots are all good feeder insects for terrestrial salamanders. Particularly large grasshoppers and other large insects will need to be chopped up into smaller pieces to be safe for your salamander and to prevent choking and impaction.
Many kinds of aquatic insects are suitable feeders for aquatic salamanders. Mosquito larvae, dragonfly larvae, springtails, and mayflies are all excellent choices.
Feeder Arachnids
Spiders (yes, really!) also make great prey items for salamanders! You will need to watch your salamander eat these, as some species do have the ability to fight back and bite your salamander.
Feeder spiders should always be nonvenomous species with little to no hairs and very small mouth parts.
Crustaceans and Molluscs
Snails, slugs, shrimp, prawns, and crayfish are tasty treats for salamanders. They are not as nutritionally dense as other feeder items, though, and they can contain large quantities of fat. Therefore, they should be used as treat items rather than staples.
However, brine shrimp are a bit of an outlier and are perfect feeder items for most aquatic salamanders. It is also very easy and inexpensive to breed them at home! Brine shrimp are nutritionally dense and offer an enriching hunting experience for your aquatic salamander.
Never take insects, snails, spiders, or slugs from your garden to use as feeders, as they can contain parasites or be coated in toxic insecticides. This rule also goes for all other food items listed here! Eating wild-caught feeders can poison, harm, and even kill your salamander.
Feeder Amphibians
Many species of salamanders will eat the nymphs and babies of other salamanders as well as frogs! Tadpoles are favorite treats because they are nutritionally dense as well as fun to chase around the tank.
Feeder Mammals
Large salamanders can also eat small “pinky” mice. Baby mice are high in
Avoid pinky mice for babies, juveniles, and small species of salamanders. Only the largest of salamanders can comfortably eat them without risk of choking or impaction.
What Commercial Food Can Salamanders Eat?
Some commercial, pre-packaged foods are formulated specifically for carnivorous reptiles and amphibians. These foods are great additions to your salamander’s diet. However, they should not make up the base of the diet.
Commercial foods are typically quite nutritionally dense. However, they can lack some vital nutrients and water that are only found in fresh or freeze-dried prey items.
Do Salamanders Need Supplements?
Salamanders do need a
A
As long as they are receiving a healthy and varied diet, your salamander should not need any other additional supplements or multivitamins.
Common Feeding Mistakes
Salamanders are not like dogs and cats that can verbally let you know when something is wrong. Unfortunately, this means making mistakes with their diet is far more common.
Below are a few common mistakes new pet owners often make with their salamanders’ diets. If not remedied, these mistakes can significantly affect your amphibious friend’s lifespan and quality of life.
1. Relying on One Type of Food
When you rely on only one type of food, it inevitably leads to a nutritional deficiency, as not all foods are created equal. If you rely on only feeding your salamander brine shrimp, for example, then they will lose out on various other crucial nutrients they would normally get from food items like bloodworms and guppies.
It is important to keep your salamander’s diet varied to provide them with all the nutrients they need as well as keep them interested in their food. Nobody likes eating the same thing every single day!
2. Overfeeding Your Salamander
Salamanders are not common pets, which means not everyone knows exactly what a healthy salamander should look like. Overweight salamanders can be difficult to spot if you do not know what to look for.
Obese salamanders may be cute to look at, but unfortunately, they are at severe risk of various health issues, multi-organ failure, and shortened lifespans.
It is important to stick to your feeding schedule and to only feed as much food as your salamander will eat in a five-minute window. Adult salamanders need larger meals, so give them enough time to chew and swallow before offering them their next food item. This will encourage them to eat more slowly and avoid overeating.
3. Overusing a Commercial Diet
Commercial diets are often high in nutrients but also high in fats and low in water. Using a commercial diet as the basis of your salamander’s diet will lead to nutritional deficiencies as well as weight gain and digestive problems.
Use the commercial diet as an occasional treat every now and then, and always supplement it with live prey to stimulate a natural hunting response and encourage your salamander’s interest in their food.
4. Not Gut Loading Your Insects
Feeder insects are only as nutritious as the food they eat. Therefore, if you feed your salamander insects that have not eaten in a couple of days, then you are robbing them of nutrition.
In the 12 hours or so before you feed your salamander, make sure you feed your insects a healthy diet high in
5. Cohabitating Salamanders of Different Sizes
Cohabitating many salamanders in a single enclosure is tricky because smaller salamanders always run the risk of being attacked or stressed out by the larger ones. Many species are quite territorial and prefer living alone.
Larger salamanders will go after smaller salamanders and take a bite out of their legs, tails, and bodies. These attacks can lead to the smaller salamanders being completely eaten!
If you want to keep multiple salamanders in the same enclosure, make sure they are of the same size, are well fed, have plenty of space, and have access to many different resources to reduce competition.
In general, it’s always best to keep them housed separately whenever possible unless you are a very experienced pet owner who knows the signs of aggression to look out for.
FAQs About Salamander Diet
Can I feed my salamander human food?
Animals should never eat human food because their digestive systems are not suited to the processed nature of our foods. Human foods are often toxic to amphibians like salamanders and can lead to gastrointestinal problems and even death.
Can I feed my salamander fruit and vegetables?
Salamanders are strictly carnivores! Therefore, they will become very ill if you feed them vegetables or fruit. When they are very small, they sometimes consume microscopic algae; however, this is the extent of their plant matter consumption.
How often do I need to feed my salamander?
Baby salamanders should be fed once a day. When they reach two months old, their feedings should be reduced to every second day. Younger salamanders must eat more often than adults to accommodate their growing size and rapid metabolisms.
Adult salamanders should be fed every third day with two fasting days in between. The fasting days allow them to fully process their previous meal and excrete it before new food is eaten.
You can, for instance, set your pet’s feeding schedule up on Mondays and Thursdays. If their food schedule is predictable, their digestive systems will function optimally.
It is also a good idea to alternate what you feed them. On Mondays, you could feed your aquatic salamander bloodworms and brine shrimp, and then on Thursday, feed them a minnow and a nightcrawler. This variation boosts their interest in their food.
Can I feed my salamander pieces of meat?
Even though salamanders are carnivores, they should not be fed pieces of meat. Salamanders eat whole prey items. This means they typically consume the whole animal, bones, skin, meat, organs, and all. This is how they consume the maximum amount of nutrients.
However, if you only feed them pieces of meat, then they are missing out on other important nutrients. Not all types of animal meat are equal, though, and some terrestrial animal meat such as beef, pork, and chicken will actually make your salamander sick, as their digestive systems are not designed for it.
When should I feed my salamander?
Salamanders are largely nocturnal animals. You should feed them when they are most active. This can be done at night or even at dusk to make your life a little easier.
You should not feed them during the day or at dawn, as this is when they are resting. If you feed your salamander during the day, they either will not eat the food, which will go to waste, or they may suffer from intestinal distress.
Wrapping Up on Salamander Chow
What do salamanders eat? Just about anything they can fit into their mouths!
Both in the wild and in captivity, a salamander’s diet needs to be varied to keep their interest and to maintain optimal nutrition. They can eat a wide variety of foods, from insects to plankton, to worms, to tiny crustaceans, to feeder fish, and various types of larvae. Larger salamanders can even eat pinky mice!
The size of any food items you offer your salamander should always be dependent on the size of the salamander to avoid complications like choking and impaction. Be sure to keep food items smaller than the width of the space between your salamander’s eyes for best results.
Watching your amphibious friend eat is absolutely fascinating, so buckle up, dangle the worms, and watch them get to work!
