New to the forum and inherited a Tiger Salamander

[salyluvr]

Hello all,
I recently acquired a Tiger Salamander. He is 4 years old and I like him alot. The person who had him before me said that nightcrawlers were left in the tank at all times. I don't do this because I'm a little worried that they will dirty his tank. He eats 3 crickets every other day. I dust on Tuesdays and Fridays rotating between calcium w/ and w/o D3. He seems very normal from what I have read so far. He has a hide that he loves and he also burrows sometimes. There is a fake fern in his tank that he likes to hide behind alot too. I have a large water bowl and sometimes he soaks in it at night.
I have offered him nightcrawlers and he seems to play with them and not eat them. I did leave one in with him for 2 days and found it when I was spot cleaning the tank. He is in a 20 long tank. The humidity is 80-90 and temps are 62 at night and 69 daytime. The coco fiber is not soaked but damp enough. I don't have any lights or heat on him at all. I keep him on a shelf in my room.
Does it sound as if I am doing everything right? Are there any other food items that I could offer him?
Here are some pictures, any advice is appreciated.
Thanks, Christine

 

[Jan]

Hi Christine
From your description, sounds like you are doing well in the care of your tiger....he's quite handsome and your viv looks nice. As you are new to the forum, you may find the following helpful for general information and to answer your question regarding other foods to try:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/worms.shtml

I wouldn't worry about leaving nightcrawlers in his tank, they don't dirty a tank so to speak. The concern I have with leaving worms in a tank is that I don't know how much the sal is eating - and therefore I prefer to hand feed. Worms are the perfect salamander food. If the worms are large, try cutting them up and feeding sections to the sal using long tweezers or forceps until he learns to accept food from your hand. Dusting crickets every few feedings is recommended. I would use the calcium w/ D3 and mix with a high grade vitamin powder such as RepCal herptivite.

Your tank temps are good but I do not worry about humidity...more importantly, just keep his substrate moist but not soaked and assure that there is adequate air ventilation - a screen top is recommended.

Welcome to the forum!
Jan