Mudpuppy pics

[Markgilst]

A couple years ago I bought a mudpuppy (necturus maculosus) and he's really great. His set up is basically a north american stream biotope, 20 gal long, aquarium chiller and 25 gal aqueon filter, with minnows, crayfish, and hornwort. (the crayfish eats a lot of it though, might get rid of it soon) there was a bullfroglet in there but the cray ate it and there was a big tadpole i bought after but i think the mudpuppy ate it, but he's such a nice looking creature. he always goes out of his cave around the tank at night to do some midnight fishing trips and i wake up the next morning and see i'm missing a couple minnows. so here's some pics of him

 

[Markgilst]

Some pics from October

 

[Markgilst]

pic taken from tonight, (11/24) I couldn't stop laughing at how human-like his hands look so I had to post this . . .

 

[Markgilst]

Sometime around midnight (camera was on flash, only source of light but everything else was dark pretty much) I took these 2 pics of him going fishing for all the minnows I added to the tank. In the corner is a pic of one of the 2 tadpoles I bought last night, let's see how long they survive. ._.

 

[Markgilst]

Apparently his little hunt was a success, a couple nights ago I put in 6-10 fish in the tank, and I just checked and there's only 2, one of the tadpoles is gone too. ._. Good work for him I guess lol.

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

I want to share also!

 

[xxianxx]

Nice pics guys, so tempted to get some for myself ! Is the colour variation between the two sets of pics typical of different populations ? do they display a wide range of patterns and colouring?

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Nice pics guys, so tempted to get some for myself ! Is the colour variation between the two sets of pics typical of different populations ? do they display a wide range of patterns and colouring?

Coloration varies. Even within the same population. One think I did notice is that western individuals seem to be more yellowish/gold as adults.

 

[JessKB]

Nice pics guys, so tempted to get some for myself ! Is the colour variation between the two sets of pics typical of different populations ? do they display a wide range of patterns and colouring?

There is a large amount of variation in color between populations, individuals, and age. I've seen a lot of juveniles in the wild and they have a range of color/markings. I think age is one of the biggest things that determines colors. Older individuals lose markings with age (so I've read) with very old adults being almost spotless. From what I understand, the taxonomy of necturus is a big mess and there are likely many subspecies within N. maculosus that haven't been worked out yet. There's even a mudpuppy in an area of northern Lake Michigan that is almost completely black.

If you decide to get some you won't be disappointed. I currently keep a single juvenile I collected a little over a year ago. They make very interesting captives and become extremely tame. Their begging will put even the fattest axolotl or tiger salamander to shame.

Here's some pictures of my mudpuppy along with a video.



Watch in HD

Mudpuppy nosing around eating blackworms - YouTube

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

I have this nice comparison shot!

 

[Markgilst]

Hey guys, I haven't checked out this thread in a while (sadly, the phone I used for taking the pics is broken so I haven't been posting) but I just now logged on and saw the posts and have to say thank you guys for contributing to this thread! Jaymes, your mudpuppy's hideout looks a lot like the one I used to have. Nice ones there btw. From the post about the age difference and stripes/spots, I guess my mudpuppy's kinda old :/ and I'm pretty sure that's why he barely comes out of the cave unless it's really dark or something. The ones you all have seem pretty young and energetic though and either way I really like mine still.

 

[Markgilst]

New year, new camera, new footage. Here's a pic of the guy chomping down on a worm. Filmed with a GoPro in the tank.
Mudpuppy eats - YouTube

 

[Aschneider8]

I have Axolotls and live in WIsconsin. My friend's daughter saw them and swore she saw a leucistic one in a small deep lake here. I am guessing it was a mudpuppy and I am wondering if they come in a similar coloration.

 

[Kaysie]

It was likely an aberrantly colored tiger salamander larva. I've never seen a non-wildtype mudpuppy.

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

I have Axolotls and live in WIsconsin. My friend's daughter saw them and swore she saw a leucistic one in a small deep lake here. I am guessing it was a mudpuppy and I am wondering if they come in a similar coloration.

Seeing an odd colored Necturus? Very possible if my 1st sighting of a Necturus was an albino one, actually two of them. Though it wasn't in the wild it was in a pet store. But they were wild caught so they were wild at some point. Though this was about 15 years ago I still remember it well.

It would be awesome to see any non-normal colored Necturus.