Ambystoma tigrinum

[Wy Renegade]

Very cool to see more of these successfully captive raised.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Over the last few days the larvae have discovered that chopped earthworm is the best food ever
For the first time today, a couple chose to be hand fed Since they discovered earthworms, they have had a growth spurt. They are also just starting to darken. The size's are ranging from just over 3'' to an inch.

 

[mr cyclone]

Here's one of my bigger ones

 

[Bellabelloo]

I noticed today that some are showing a slightly greenish tinge on their sides, and most are getting darker in colour. I also tried introducing them to pellets.... the majority not at all impressed . This was to try and make feeding them a little easier while I am away .
The larvae outdoors seem to be growing well, they have now moved onto whiteworm.. super timing as they have just about had all my daphnia. They are also getting some blackworm that I re-discovered in one of my tubs

 

[LydiaL]

Such cute little guys! Are you planning on separating them so they don't start fighting, or do you have them nice and well-fed so that they can stay together?

 

[Bellabelloo]

So far I have not seen any missing body parts, but I will move them into a bigger tub if I do. The smaller larvae do tend to hide amongst the weed, when I feed them they are very flighty... especially if the larger ones get close. Some of the smaller ones have gone missing, but the size difference was huge, I am not keen to raise these.

 

[Chinadog]

Same here, numbers have dwindled slightly, but I have five or six really healthy looking larvae that are all about the same size. They don't seem to squabble amongst themselves that much, if at all.
I am enjoying raising these as they are so different to my usual Cynops comfort zone. I just keep heaping the chopped nightcrawlers and whiteworms in and they keep hoovering it all up and getting bigger and bigger. I'll post up some more pics soon.
Btw, how big do they normally get before they morph?

 

[Bellabelloo]

I was wondering about the size they morph at, I think looking back at Hopalong's newly morphed photo it was about 4-5 inches. She gradually got darker and chunkier, the legs got thicker too.

 

[Mark]

I can't take great photos of mine as they live in a scratched plastic tub covered in algae and duckweed. I'm limited to over head shots through the murk, which is a shame as they look like they have nice high tails/dorsal fins. Maybe I need to invest in a glass tank for photographs.

 

[Chinadog]

Here's a few snaps of mine, Mark is a better photographer than me though!

 

[TheAmphibianGuy]

Good luck. Hopefully you can breed the CB babies later! Also would this work with Ambystoma Gracile?

 

[Niels D]

I'm no expert, not even close since I'm only keeping newts, but it seems to me that the animal on the last pic shows some (beginning) traits of a phenotype (cannibalistic morph).

In any case you've did a great job!

 

[Chinadog]

I know what you're saying, they are all in a 20 gallon at the moment, so maybe it's the overcrowding that's triggering it, it certainly isn't lack of food! There's been no cannibalism since they were very small, but I'm going to split the group up this weekend into some bigger outdoor tubs to be on the safe side.

 

[Niels D]

Would be a nice asset to your collection though

 

[Chinadog]

Hmm, after the basics it's not something I know much about. I'm going to read up a bit more on it over the weekend.

 

[Bellabelloo]

I fished a couple of the larger larvae out this evening so I could take a few photo's. These are just over 5'' now and eating chopped earthworms. The ones outdoors are reaching a whole inch

 

[Chinadog]

Mine are around the four inch mark at the moment, also on chopped worms and bloodworm. I thought Tylototriton larvae could eat until I got these, they really are eating machines! I imagine they would be even more ravenous if they were stuck in a shrinking pool somewhere.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Some are now showing definite signs of morphing. Time to add some land areas

 

[Niels D]

Looking good!

 

[Bellabelloo]

24 hours later.