Tiger behavior changes?

[WNeil]

This past February I picked up a pair of barred tiger salamanders that I initially kept in a large 30 gallon sterilite container. The duo lived in this tub for the first three months that I had them and during this time period they were pretty much the epitome of your typical pet tiger salamander. They would come out from their burrows every night, beg for food, and were happy to eat most anything I offered them (mostly a rotating mix of nightcrawlers, crickets, thawed krill, and the occasional pinkie).

After the first three months I had saved up enough cash that I could afford to upgrade them to a 30 gallon breeder aquarium (36in x 18in x 12in or 91cm x 45cm x 30cm) and so moved them into there with a good three or so inches of substrate with a couple of plants, some driftwood, and a waterbowl.

Well, it wasn't long after this that one salamander's behavior changed dramatically. As the months have gone by she has gotten increasingly skittish and shy. Previously she had been as tame as could be, but now she ducks into her burrow when she catches sight of me (on the rare occasions she's actually topside). She absolutely hates being out in the open and if placed there will immediately sprint for the nearest hiding spot. She'll still eat from my fingers if I'm patient, but she's also gotten increasingly picky about what she'll eat. Now it's mostly just crickets and the occasional nightcrawler (half the time she refuses those). I'm just wondering if anyone's had a similar experience or if they had a clue as to what could be going on. I've never had an animal that went from completely tame to ridiculously skittish like this before. The other tiger living with her is just as tame, calm, and prone to begging as he was at the start.

Here's the husbandry info if it's any help:
Temps are usually around 72 F, substrate is about three inches of coco-fiber with a moisture gradient, water is changed every two days and is decholorinated with repti-safe, and they usually get fed a good sized meal ~4 days or so.

 

[John]

Interesting stuff. Is the new tank very well lit? Light can discourage them sometimes. Also, how moist is the substrate?

 

[Tim S]

When did you first notice the change in behavior? Could the change have coincided with any of the low pressure systems associated with this hurricane season. I'm thinking she may have gone through a hormonal shift and may be ready to breed.

The way you have been feeding them she is probably full of eggs!

 

[WNeil]

The tank is lit by a 24 inch 20 watt strip light. It's on a timer that is set to turn on around 7:30am and off at about 8:30pm. The tiger whose behavior hasn't changed usually pokes his head out of his burrow or starts roaming around about an hour or two after the light goes off. The shy one rarely comes up out of the ground these days and I only catch her topside once or twice a month. I have to uncover her during feeding time or I doubt she'd eat. When I do feed them (usually around 10pm) the room is dimly lit by a lamp at the far end from their tank.

Moisture-wise one end of the tank is nice and moist, but not sopping wet or anything. The other end is a bit drier, but still damp enough that it isn't coco-dust. They generally seem to prefer the moister end as normally find at least one of them dug in under the water bowl where it's probably the coolest.

The behavior changes would have began around the end of April, pretty much a few weeks after moving into the tank. I doubt she's full of eggs. She's pretty hefty, but not anymore than you'd expect from a healthy tiger (and truthfully I don't know for absolutely certain that she is female). In any event she doesn't spend much time in the water bowl, which I assume she would be if she wanted to breed?

 

[Tim S]

John's probably right. This sounds like a lighting issue. The fact that you have the light on a timer may makes it worse. The light going on or off suddenly could trigger a reflex responce to flee. From a small animal's perspective, sudden light shifts could be caused by the approach of a large preditor as it's shadow passes over it. For the small animal it is often better to flee than take time to analyze the situation.

Also, being dug up is another situation small animals do not respond well to. Again it is the predation responce issue.

I'm not sure what the best solution is to your problem; but, removing the artificial lighting seems like the logical first step. You might try removing enough substrate so the salamanders aren't burrowing to hide. Provide suitable hiding places that still allow easy access to the animals to avoid over handling.

 

[WNeil]

Well, I know that digging them up isn't the best thing to do, the problem is that she doesn't give me much of a choice. For the first few months I had them it was easy enough to just feed them when they were out and about. As the one started getting increasingly shy and spending more time underground I initially decided to just wait for her to come up on her own and feed her then. After two weeks went by and she hadn't surfaced I figured I should go ahead and gently unearth her to make sure she eats.

I've been thinking about trying to make a cave with a removable top out of styrofoam and great stuff in the hopes that they'll adopt it as their main hangout. That way I can simply remove the cave's top and feed them with minimal disturbance.

I'll try removing the light and seeing what happens. It's mostly just there for the benefit of the plants anyway. It just strikes me as extremely odd that the light alone could account for the complete reversal in her personality, especially since the skittishness continues after the lights have been out for some time.

 

[Tim S]

Is it possible that your shy tiger :errr: is trying to avoid the dominant :violent: one? If so you could place a tank divider in your terrarium or use your old 30 gallon setup to house the shy one.

 

[WNeil]

An update:

After making this thread I removed the light on the tank and the shy tiger has been spending substantially more time topside, usually several days at a time. However, she is still extremely shy and doesn't have the gusto for food that she used to.

What's more, within the last two weeks there have been some instances of really bizarre behavior. Twice now I've seen her go running across the tank while spasmodically flailing around (the closest thing I can liken it to is a guy running around slapping at imaginary flames). This ends with her lying motionless somewhere for several hours while taking rapid breaths occasionally interrupted with larger gulps.

For the entirety of the last three days she has been soaking in the water dish, never leaving it. I fed them last night, and was somewhat surprised that she was willing to eat. She only ate three crickets, though, and not with much zeal. Even worse, the entire time she's been in the dish she's held her head and forelimbs at an angle almost perpendicular to the rest of her body.

The angle makes me suspect she has metabolic bone disease, although I'm not certain if she's "stuck" like that or if she simply happens to be in that position everytime I look in on her (which has bee pretty frequent since she took to the dish). I don't know if the spasmodic running/flailing or the sudden love for water are symptoms of mbd, though. I'm not sure how she could have gotten mbd, either. I give them a pretty varied diet, and the crickets are always dusted with a calcium supplement. Suppose she could have been in the early stages when I got her and just didn't have any symptoms yet.

Anyone?

 

[WNeil]

Okay, the shy tiger buried herself for two days after I removed her from the dish to change the water. Tonight she's right back in there and I can now see why she's curled at that angle. It's not metabolic bone disease, rather, she's curled around an open wound that's right behind her armpit. I am almost positive it wasn't there two days ago, although it's possible that it was a small wound at the time and has simply grown. Basically, I don't know if this is some sort of ulcer that just opened or if this is a result of one of her spasmodic runs.

I am putting the animal in quarantine and will get some neosporin without pain-reliever tomorrow. I'm not sure what else to do other than to watch for infection. Should I keep a water dish available to her? She certainly seems to want to be in the water.

 

[Jan]

If you have the ability, the animal should be seen by a herp vet - optimally one that has experience with amphibians. The 'running spasmodically' is very abnormal as is the way you describe its head and limb positioning. Typically, tigers do not retreat to water unless they are stressed- which in the case of this animal could be induced from infection, neurological issues, etc. I note you are from Missouri. Here is a list of herp vets in the state if you do not have other contacts:

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/missouri.shtml

Agree that you need to to place her in a hospital tank. I would use moistened (with dechorinated or spring water) white paper toweling with a hiding place and keep the water dish (with the water changed daily and the paper toweling changed at l east every 2 days). Place the tank in a cool and dark environment. Until you can get professional help, trying the neosporin would seem reasonable if you just have an open wound without infection. To use the neosporin (without any pain reliever), I would recommend flushing the wound with a small stream of water, let the area dry then apply a thin coat of neopsorin twice daily. I have used this regimen with success to treat abrasions secondary to tank makes nipping one another. I have one tiger that now lives by himself because he indiscriminately 'snaps' at anything that moves (thinking it's food)...including tank mates' feet. I generally do not use neosporin for more than 5 days out of concern for toxicity.

I wish you and your animal the best.