How to Feed a Salamander

Feeding your salamander can be fun; and collecting or buying the food sources can be half the fun or more! Feed your salamander many types of insects and certain fish to ensure that it has an appropriate and nutritionally balanced diet.

Things You'll Need

• Insects
• Guppies or brine shrimp
• Fish flakes or crushed dog food

Instructions

1. Research your specific species of salamander. Determine if your salamander is aquatic or terrestrial and what types of food sources your salamander may prefer to eat.

2. Buy or collect roaches, crickets, locusts, slugs and flies. Feed the live insects to your salamander, as movement attracts them and indicates that the prey is suitable to be eaten.

3. Give pill bugs, beetles and small millipedes to your salamander as a treat. These insects are readily available around residences and under rotted, old vegetation and wood.

4. Offer worms to your salamander. White worms, bloodworms, black worms, kingworms and superworms have high nutritional content and are more digestible for your salamander than mealworms.

5. Increase the nutritional content of your salamander's food by sprinkling crushed dog food or fish flakes over it. Your salamander will benefit from eating the fish flakes or dog food, as it contains more nutritional content than just the live prey alone.

6. Set up a colony of guppies or brine shrimp for your salamander if you plan on being away for a little while. The salamanders will have a consistent source of food and will be attracted to the animals' movement.

Tips & Warnings

• During the winter months, invest in a special salamander vitamin solution. Dip your salamander's food into the solution and feed the solution and food to your salamander to help keep it healthy.

• Feeding your salamander a wide variety of foods ensures that your salamander has a healthy, balanced diet.

• Salamanders should be fed live prey daily, but their eating habits may be dictated by their personal preferences and their age. Take these factors into account when establishing a feeding pattern.

• Feed your salamander only what it can eat at one time. Over-feeding your salamander may encourage it to overeat; food that it does not eat can rot and be a source of harmful bacteria for your salamander.