I apparently have a tiger salamander, now what?

Sarramy

Sarramy

Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2016
Messages
94
Reaction score
3
Points
8
Location
Colorado, US
Country
United States
I was sold an axolotl last week at a local pet shop. Well apparently it's the larvae form of a tiger salamander instead. I've been treating it as thought it was an axolotl, do I need to do anything different? I'm going to have to find a new home for it before it metamorphizes since I am not prepared for, nor do I want, a land salamander. Of course I don't want to hurt this one in the mean time though. So... what now? How big do they get before they change? I'm trying to figure out how long I have to find it a new home I guess.
 
Treat it as you would an axolotl.
The signs that it is approaching morphing are that the caudal fin starts to reduce, the tail becomes less flat, the eyes start to become more raised, the legs start to thicken and that the gills start to recede. Once the gills start to recede, you'll find that this may happen quite quickly,so I personally lowered the water level to maybe 4 '' and added some land areas so that it can haul itself out. You may notice that it may start to raise its head above water more as it gets closer to moving on land.
Can you add a photo of your animal please so we can see ?
 
Adding a land area is part of the reason I can't keep it. I'm not equipped to do that. Hopefully I can find it a home before it comes to that. I've had it about a week now and haven't noticed any changes in that time. I found out about it being a tiger salamander when I posted pictures asking why it didn't have 3 gills on each side (it was that way when I got it).

Here are the pictures I have.
 

Attachments

  • slagathor the mudkip.jpg
    slagathor the mudkip.jpg
    65.7 KB · Views: 210
  • slagathor the mudkip 2.jpg
    slagathor the mudkip 2.jpg
    61.2 KB · Views: 199
  • slagathor the mudkip 3.jpg
    slagathor the mudkip 3.jpg
    380.5 KB · Views: 203
Hi Sarramy,

The land area could be as simple as lowering the water level to the top of the pot seen in the background of the pictures you posted. That surface won't suffice for more than a day or so, but will at least allow a newly metamorphosed salamander to escape the water when the time comes. If you still don't have a new home for it after morphing you can use a cheap plastic show box with damp paper towels to house it until you do find that new home.

Best of luck with it!

HJ
 
If I lower the water area that low then I won't have anything to break up the filter flow (currently it's hitting the top of the pot to ensure the flow isn't too strong). I don't have time for daily water changes so I'd rather not go sans filter. Ugh.

Can you tell from the pictures how long until he starts changing? I've had him for about a week and so far he looks exactly the same.
 
He is a beauty! Too bad you can't keep him, adult tiger sals aren't super demanding. If you have a spare 10 gallon, some organic soil, and a water dish/a few hides he would he pretty content. Just food for thought.

The main thing is to make sure he has a rock or something that he can climb out of the water on once he starts to transform. It doesn't have to be large, just something he can rest on at the surface. If you don't provide that he might drown.
 
What you could get him before he or she morphs is buy a turtle dock or something similar and put it in the aquarium, so the water level can stay the same, but it can get out of water
 
A turtle dock is a great idea!! I'm sure someone here on Caudata would be extremely happy to take him in btw!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Well my husband and I thought about it a lot today and we're going to keep him. I'm not currently prepared but I should be able to get everything I need within a week. I am still super angry at the shop that sold me the wrong animal, but we are already attached to little Slagathor, so I guess I have no choice really. I was not expecting my husband to be on board with this at all, but he was actually the one to suggest it.

Now I'm off to learn how to take care of a tiger salamander properly. Fun times!
 
Yay!!! :D


I think you will love having Slagathor. Watching the morphing process is amazing:D
 
Best of luck with Slagathor. I'm sorry that you were mis-sold the incorrect animal, but glad that you have decided to keep him. He's lovely.
If you want to see the metamorphosis then check out this thread.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...already-beginning-metamorph-what-do-i-do.html
There are a lot of very experienced people on this forum who will be happy to help and offer advice. It would be great if you could keep us posted on his progress (with lots of pictures). :happy:
 
I'm just going to get a bit creative with my budget so to get him his own new habitat. I still plan on getting an axolotl so I need to keep this tank going. I'm going to try and get pics of his morphing too. I just wish I knew when it would start.
 
Without knowing his age it is difficult to say, but you will know when it happens because his face starts looking sharper (more pointed) and his gills will move lower on his head and start shrinking. It only took Jabba around 2 weeks to go from fully aquatic to fully terrestrial, and the changes were amazing on a daily basis.
 
That's great you are able to keep it! I really think you will enjoy having it in your household - my salamander has a fun personality as I am sure most of them do.

As far as a budget friendly habitat - I have housed my salamander in a large plastic tote for about 10 years now and she has done very well in there. The tote is about 3.5 feet long and 18" wide. I have about 6 inches of coir mixed with organic potting soil as the substrate, and a few cork bark hides. This set up was very economical for me and has lasted for a very long time. It's also pretty light weight so I can move the habitat as needed. It is not, however, really attractive and lots of other members on this forum have gone to great efforts and have very attractive habitats. Whichever design you go with I hope Slagathor and you are pleased with it :)

HJ
 
Thanks for all the help. :) I may have to temporarily use a plastic tote, depending on how soon he changes. I have cats though so I'll feel a lot more comfortable putting him in a tank with a secure top, so I'll be getting one as soon as I can.
 
So I was reading through that article and wow, they can honestly live in a 10 gallon tank? That seems so small once they are full grown.

I'm trying to think of ways to make his new future home as attractive as possible but it seems like it's really just dirt and a hideaway or two. Kinda boring. Would it hurt to plant a plant in one corner so to give the setup some life?
 
Yes, and it will help with stress. Another couple of things you could do to "Add some spice" is to get naturalistic log or rock hides for him/her to go underneath, or a water dish for him/her to soak in the meantime if you can't mist that day or something. Also, it may feed better in a water dish when it morphs, as I've seen a lot of threads showing them eat only in or near water after morphing, but I doubt that there's any truth to that, as Pirate was eating right off the bat
 
I've ordered a large quantity of coco fiber for his substrate, a reptile water dish so it's not too deep, and a cork bark log for a hideaway since it said it was safe for amphibians.

As for the plant, I've had a long day and perhaps I am just confusing your self. Do you mean it's a bad idea to add a plant and would stress him out, or that adding a plant is a good idea and will help him be less stressed?
 
My tigers are thugs. They naturally like to burrow under things, any attempt I made to make it look nice was thwarted by them. Try and add things that they can potentially hide under. Mine liked a broken in half flower for a while. I found that my young Tigers would spend time in a water bowl, I used a not very attractive dog bowl for this as it was easy to remove for cleaning. They would tend to leap in for feeding , and use it as their toilet . The link below is about my Tigers.


http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...vortium-spp-etc/90898-ambystoma-tigrinum.html
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top