Ambystoma tigrinum

[Bellabelloo]

I am sure they have already doubled in size
Today they had their first Daphnia, previously they where feeding on micro worm and brine shrimp ( I hate brine shrimp)

 

[jbherpin]

Nice full bellies! Lookin' good!

JBear

 

[Donna001]

So cute. :happy:

 

[Chinadog]

Mine are still eggs at the moment, but they look like they'll slip any day now, maybe even later today.

 

[evut]

How did I miss this? Congratulations, Julia!

 

[Chinadog]

I've just been out to check on mine and there are some empty eggs! There's plenty of natural food in their tank, so hopefully I should be able to spot the larvae soon.

 

[Sith the turtle]

Great news to you Bellabelloo and Chinadog!

 

[Bellabelloo]

The larger ones are now developing front legs....they can just be seen. ( I stalk them now armed with a magnifying glass ) . There is a big difference now in their sizes, the larger ones are double the size of some of the smaller ones. they are feeding on daphnia and white worm. The eggs outside are just starting to hatch now.

 

[Chinadog]

Mine look very similar at the moment, although there's no size difference yet. Will you split them up according to size as they grow?

 

[Sith the turtle]

I'd imagine so, tiger larvae are confirmed cannibals, there's even a cannibal morph as well, so I think they'll be separated according to size

 

[Bellabelloo]

For a while they where all a similar size. They have a constant supply of small daphnia and chopped white worm and I was hoping the range on food size would suit the different sizes of larvae. I have a lot of aquatic plants to give some place to hide for the smaller ones. The behaviour of the larger larvae has become more jumpy, rather than just gently swimming.
At the moment I am not intending to separate them as I suspect the smaller ones may eventually not thrive, even if separated. I'll continue to supply lots of size appropriate food for both. I will try and get a photo showing the size differences over the next few days.

 

[Chinadog]

There's definitely some size difference with my larvae now. The biggest ones have small front legs and I've even seen them breathing air at the surface!
No cannibalism yet though. touch wood. I'll try and get some pics soon to see how they compare with yours.

 

[Mark]

I've split mine up for safety. The largest is at least 3 times the size of the smallest and they patrol the mid water in jerky movements attacking anything that moves. They're brutal. I've never raised Ambystoma before so it's fascinating to see how different they are to newt larvae. They do take pellets but spit them out. I don't think it'll be long before they can be weened off live food.

Sadly I've only ended up with a handful of larvae. I think the postal process was a bit too traumatic for many of the embryos. I'm not too worried, it's not like they're small salamanders! Thanks Julia!

 

[Chinadog]

I've seen the brutal lunges as well. At first I thought they were being startled when I was dropping food in, but they were really just launching themselves and intercepting it before it hit the bottom!

 

[Bellabelloo]

Managed to get a shot with one of the larger larva with a smaller larva. This weekend I can just see some rear legs starting to develop.
Over the last few days the eggs in the outdoor tub have just started to hatch. I had forgotten already how small they where to start with.

 

[Bellabelloo]

I've moved them to a bigger tub today I can now see that most have rear legs developing, even the smaller sized ones.

 

[Chinadog]

Here are a few snaps of mine. I think they are a little behind yours, they have just been growing their back legs over the last few days. They really are deadly predators aren't they, much more aggressive than any other larvae I've raised. I can easily imagine them swallowing each other in the wild if need be!

 

[Bellabelloo]

It's good to see them

 

[mr cyclone]

I'm Curious to see how different in colour the 2 I'm raising outside will be compared to the rest indoors, I have between 8 and 12 .My Dad has also got 2 of the larvae and is raising them with glee.
I will maybe try and sneak some pictures with the Mrs phone as my one is playing up.She is still annoyed about recieving notifications for posting a yangi video online with it :happy:

 

[Chinadog]

I'm going to move some of mine outside at the weekend as they've out grown their tank inside. They really are killing machines, I siphoned one out by accident today during a water change, the vicious little thing was still snapping at things in the bottom of the bucket after his ride down the hose!