Something is wrong with my tiger salamander

[emandkel]

I have 2 tiger salamanders that are about 6 - 8 inches long each, currently housed together in a 10-gallon aquarium (will be upgrading to larger setup) on coconut fiber bedding. They have a hide and a water bowl for soaking (using dechlorinated water). The substrate is kept moist.

Both have been eating well and have been little beggars. Nightcrawlers are their staple food. I feed them each 1 or 2 2-inch long earthworm pieces a day or every other day. They seem chubby and have been doing well.

Tonight one of the salamanders is not doing well. It seems weak, breathing heavily, no interest in food. I'm not sure what is going on -- any ideas? The other one is fine and begging for food as usual.

[emandkel]

The little guy didn't make it through the night

[rodsboys]

Sorry for your loss. From your first post I could not begin to guess what the problem could have been as I never experienced that with mine.
I do have a couiple observations though. Their enclosure is small for 2 tiger sals as you stated. Are you buying worms or feeding wild caught? They do not need to eat every day when given portions of that size. I know it is hard to resist with their begging being so cute. You can give them a 4" piece or a whole worm rather than 2- 2" pieces by the way.

[emandkel]

I buy my worms (Canadian nightcrawlers) -- they are dye / chemical free. I know the 10-gallon is small, but with the 2 being only 6.5 - 7" max (just measured the one, the other one was about the same size) I felt ok with using it for temporary quarters until I got them a larger habitat. I've only had them a month or two. I have been feeding generally every other day depending on how they chubby they looked, usually 1 2-inch piece of worm but then the little beggars would often get another piece of worm out of me.

I'm wondering if when he/she ate it's piece of worm the other night (Sunday) it ingested too much substrate, or the substrate caused some sort of blockage. The worms get some coco fiber on them while the salamander is eating it.

Any ideas to maybe help me figure out why the little one died would be appreciated.

[rodsboys]

I wondered about that, but I have no experience and did not want to speculate about the substrate. I always used clean black potting soil when I had my guys. Not the cleanest and easiest substrate, but no harm to my sals.
I only misted my tank maybe twice a week. Their hides always seemed moist and they always had clean water. Mine were wild caught in my friends basement during a rain storm. The climate here is very dry for the most part.
How moist were you keeping the enclosure?