My two

Nice pictures!
 
verry nice looking animals, I would have to say that your tiger salamander enclosure should be all terrestrial, with hides and a water dish

you can use ecoearth or top soil(chemical/pesicide free) as substrate
 
I will once I see him re on the land he has now ( a turtle dock thing). Just the loose substraight thing has been drilled into my head as a bad choice (I own several leopard geckos).

And thanks for the comments on the pictures.
 
If he has to choose between a turtle dock and water he'll take water. I would. He's not a newt, he won't tolerate a turtle dock.
 
are you saying that you will transfer him once you see him come out of the water from being a larvae?

It looks like his gills are totally gone, therefore he should be in a fully terrestrial set-up

heres a care sheet that will help if you have any other questions
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml

and Im not trying to sound mean or anything but you really should switch the guy over, tigers arent the best swimmers, i just had one drown in his water dish a few days ago, there was half an inch of water and rocks to get out easily
 
Well sorry for being a little low on money at the moment.

Yes, I am aware of that care sheet. It was the one I used to set up the tank on how it is now.
 
I'm not sure how being low on money has anything to do with it. Draining the tank is free. And even if you can't afford substrate or hides, you can easily FIND them. Digging dirt from a yard that is pesticide/fertilizer free is an option, as is pulling bark off trees (dead elm trees are great for this) to use for hides.

By keeping your tiger salamander aquatic, you run a serious risk of drowning it. While juveniles are aquatic, adults only enter the water during breeding.
 
While juveniles are aquatic, adults only enter the water during breeding.
Kaysie means larvae are aquatic. When she says adults she means salamanders that have metamorphosed (like yours).
 
Whatever, I'll see if my parents can help me.

However, I am going to be a little more careful on the substrate then just going to a garden store. They may put various chemicals that are harmful to the salamander. You can not be that trusting. I live in a desert; there are no trees with bark here. The dirt outside? More harmful then good; all sort of bacteria and viri which would be pathogenic. In Micro class I went and swabbed a bit, and found streptococcus, staphylococcus, bacillus, and maybe a Spirillum. And yes, the salamander is going to drown. That’s why it is an amphibian, with a large tail.

Now, if everyone would please quit attacking me, show me a proper substraight to use, fauna to plant, and ways to keep a semi-large water area for him without the dirt touching it. I will start working at my dad's Veterinary clinic tomorrow, and will see if they want to contribute. Preferably, I trust Black Jungle's supplies.


Thank you.
 
A 50 pound bag of "Earth Gro" organic topsoil is $1.99 at Home Depot. I've used this brand on numerous occasions. The key is finding one without pesticides, fertilizers, or manure.

As far as your 'local' soil, didn't you collect the salamander locally? If so, then it's been exposed to this soil already... If you're really worried, you can take soil and bake it in the oven to kill bacteria. However, most soil microbes are not pathogenic. They're just that, soil microbes.

The definition of amphibian is an animal that usually spends part of its life in an aquatic stage (egg, juvenile), and then metamorphoses into another stage (in salamanders, this second stage is usually terrestrial). The tail of an adult tiger salamander is not made for swimming. It is large, heavy, fat, and not paddle-shaped in any way to facilitate swimming (as opposed to the larval tails). There is a reason tiger salamanders are found on land, and not in the water. However, I'm sure you know much better about its needs than what the salamanders know in the wild. How dare lowly creatures such as salamanders dare live on land when we think they should live in water!

You plant flora, not fauna. Fauna = animals. Keeping a semi-large water area is what you are trying to avoid (what with the drowning and all). All they need is a simple water dish. This should be rinsed and refilled daily.

Frankly, if you think we don't know jack, why bother coming here? We have told you what to use, and you accuse us of attacking you, and go on about how you know so much better than we do. So why bother coming here? Go ahead and keep your salamander aquatic and hopefully your dad's vet clinic is good enough to revive a drowned salamander.
 
I use that home depot one for my tigers too - I spent a good 40 minutes going through all the products until I found that one (the only one with nothing in the way of chemicals or fertilizers added to it). It's a shame there are so many with things added though. I never had such a hard time finding a suitable commerical substrate when I lived in Europe.
 
Hey nice pattern on your tiger. At a minimum you should at least lower the water lvl to where it would be nearly impossible for him to swim in, while you search for your substrate of choice. As for separating water from the substrate. There are a number of ways to do this, but I think if you put him in a semi-terrestrial environment you'll quickly see it really doesn't like to hang out in the water too much. Preventing the water from getting dirty is nearly impossible, since it mainly is their toilet and bath. For this reason I use a small water-dish that can be easily removed and rinsed regularly.

As for plants, it's tricky with tigers since they like to dig. For this reason some people prefer plastic ones. What works for me is keeping the plants in pots and hiding the pots/base of the plants with large gravel/rocks that they can't dig through. Of course sturdier plants seem to fair better. I'd avoid anything with spines though, of course. I can think of a lot of sturdy desert plants that hurt :).

Good luck with your salamander.
 
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