How High?

[Jackulwulf]

I just recently bought some new ornaments for my Tiger's terrarium and I am a bit concerned about the one ornament. It is a fake banzai tree and since I put it in his tank, he loves it and climbs way up onto the very top and sits there. I'm concerned because the tree is a bit high up from the bottom of his cage and earlier instead of climbing down it, he sort of let himself drop off the tree to the soil below. The tree itself can't be any more then maybe 7 or 8 inches off the top of the soil and the soil is fairly soft to land in when he does this. But I am worried he might hurt himself if he does it too much. So I wanted to know how high a Tiger Salamander can drop before he hurts himself? When he dropped off of it earlier, he didn't seem hurt at all and he just kept wandering around and doing his business after wards so perhaps I'm worrying for nothing? Thanks for reading.

 

[SludgeMunkey]

I would not worry about it. Sounds to me like your animal has no issues with it. As long as there are no sharp edged rocks or pointy sticks about, I would not sweat it.

However, If you have reservations about it follow the number one rule of vivaria-

When in doubt, leave it out.

 

[Jennewt]

I'm wondering why the salamander is climbing. It could be perfectly normal, or it could indicate that he needs a more dig-able substrate, or the substrate is too wet, or some other problem with the soil. Just a thought.

 

[Rikkoshaye]

I recently had one of my tigers crawl off a counter top and land head-first onto the tile floor; about a four foot drop! Of course I was extremely worried by it but my tiger didn't even seem to notice. After picking him up he just crawled off like nothing happened at all! So, I wouldn't worry.

 

[Jackulwulf]

Well he has been digging around in his substrate but I did buy some Eco earth coco fiber that I plan on putting in his tank when I clean it out. At the moment his substrate is a mix of top soil and sand. I just figured he was climbing around on the tree because he liked it. He generally doesn't really burrow much at all or use his hide, he tends to sit out in the open and wander around the tank and he's done that pretty much since I got him.


Wow that's quite a drop for such a small creature. I guess I don't really need to worry lol. And there isn't anything sharp or pointy for him to fall on. There is a rock in his tank that I'm concerned about so I'm going to take it out since he doesn't really need it. And once I change out his soil and put in the eco earth I'm going to bury the base of the tree so that it will be a little closer to the ground and less of a drop for him.

Thanks for your replies ^.^