Question: Tiger Salamander Climbing on Fern

[Shadowtail117]

Hi all,

My tiger salamander seems to really like climbing on top of the fern that I put in his enclosure, about 10 inches in the air compared to the substrate floor. The first time he did it a couple of weeks ago, I was a little scared since it seemed rather high up for him, and I was scared he might fall and hurt himself, but he seems to do it regularly whenever he is walking around his cage. I think he might do it when he is hungry, either to get my attention (since I always give him some whenever he does that) or perhaps in genuine search of food.

However, today I noticed that he seemed to be trying to breathe the air at the top of the tank (he climbed to the very top of the fern and lifted his head up to be almost past the lid of the tank, and the floor of his mouth seemed to be moving more than normal). Could this possibly be a sign that he doesn't like the conditions of his enclosure? It's a 15-gallon tank with Eco-Earth substrate; the hygrometer that I have in there usually reports an RH in the 80s. The temperature always stays between about 68 and 72 degrees. Any thoughts?

Attached is a picture of him on the fern today.

 

[Herpin Man]

Sounds like it’s trying to escape. That is entirely normal behavior.

 

[Ponds End]

You might try dropping the humidity levels by about 10% or so/ more air circulation(I usually have mine around 62-70%). Might be stale air or something causing him not to want to be closer to the substrate where it would be denser(especially if you don't have live plants that will cycle the air). It also could just be that he is trying to escape or migrate which is a natural behavior