As stated above, this is my first time owning an amphibian of any type, so bear with me. I have a lot of questions, as I am basically starting from nothing.
About a month ago (mid-July) my boyfriend and I went camping in Gifford-Pinchot National Forest in Washington State. I noticed a large puddle with hundreds of tadpole, and decided to scoop up some to bring home and watch grow. When I got them home and comfortably in a 10 gallon aquarium, I noticed that one was not a tadpole at all, but in fact a salamander in its larval form. Since then all the tadpoles have become frogs and are now living with a friend. However, I became quite attached to the salamander and am now trying to figured out the best long-term housing for him.
I found a list of the 14 salamander species native to Washington State and I believe I have it narrowed down to five. It is my assumption that he is either a tiger salamander, northwestern salamander, or one of the Cascade/torrent salamanders. However, he is still aquatic with external gills so physically it's hard to tell. I also don't know it's gender, but have resorted to calling it a "he."
So my first question is:
At this stage is it possible too tell what species he is?
That will really determine how big of an enclosure I will need. At the moment I have a 50 gallon in mind because I read that tigers get quite large. Once I determine that, I'd like to know about compatible plants. In the same article it mentioned pothos and any temperate philodendron. However, internet research has led to conflicting reports on the care of these plants. Do they need a lot of light or not? While looking into these, I came across another temperate plant, dichondra. Does anyone have any information about it? I have never tried growing plants, so I definitely need something hardy that isn't particular about light or temperature.
Lastly, whether I decide to have live plants or not, should I put in a false bottom? Everything I've read suggests they're excellentfor drainage and keeping your substrate from getting waterlogged and gross, but would a tiger salamander burrow too deeply and destroy the mesh (or itself?)
Those are the only questions I have for now, and I appreciate you taking the time to read it all, I know it's a lot.
Thanks!
About a month ago (mid-July) my boyfriend and I went camping in Gifford-Pinchot National Forest in Washington State. I noticed a large puddle with hundreds of tadpole, and decided to scoop up some to bring home and watch grow. When I got them home and comfortably in a 10 gallon aquarium, I noticed that one was not a tadpole at all, but in fact a salamander in its larval form. Since then all the tadpoles have become frogs and are now living with a friend. However, I became quite attached to the salamander and am now trying to figured out the best long-term housing for him.
I found a list of the 14 salamander species native to Washington State and I believe I have it narrowed down to five. It is my assumption that he is either a tiger salamander, northwestern salamander, or one of the Cascade/torrent salamanders. However, he is still aquatic with external gills so physically it's hard to tell. I also don't know it's gender, but have resorted to calling it a "he."
So my first question is:
At this stage is it possible too tell what species he is?
That will really determine how big of an enclosure I will need. At the moment I have a 50 gallon in mind because I read that tigers get quite large. Once I determine that, I'd like to know about compatible plants. In the same article it mentioned pothos and any temperate philodendron. However, internet research has led to conflicting reports on the care of these plants. Do they need a lot of light or not? While looking into these, I came across another temperate plant, dichondra. Does anyone have any information about it? I have never tried growing plants, so I definitely need something hardy that isn't particular about light or temperature.
Lastly, whether I decide to have live plants or not, should I put in a false bottom? Everything I've read suggests they're excellentfor drainage and keeping your substrate from getting waterlogged and gross, but would a tiger salamander burrow too deeply and destroy the mesh (or itself?)
Those are the only questions I have for now, and I appreciate you taking the time to read it all, I know it's a lot.
Thanks!
