Question: Tiger Salamander Gender? + Questions about Metamorphosis

[Kms124]

Hello,

I know I must have posted here a couple months ago when I first found out my so called axolotl wasn't an axolotl, but in fact a tiger salamander baby. Well a few weeks after I posted, it metamorphosed, or as I say evolved in a matter of about 3-7 days. It was so sudden, I was actually in school when i found out how quick it was. I'm really curious as to what it's gender is; when it was little it was a pudgey little thing which made my mom think it was a she it was so round (it used to look pregnant), now it has thinned out and everything.

I read some ways to identify genders online, but seem to be baffled at what gender Muffin really is (yes, that is it's name lol). I read that some people claim if the tail is longer than the body it's a he, I read about the cloaca... Muffin looks like it has two tiny little bumps under it's tail too. I'm not sure if it can even be sexed; it's only been evolved for a few weeks I would say? Not sure if it is too early?

Heres some photos I took- Muffins Gender

It just would be nice to kind of know lol. My dad calls it he, my mom calls it she, then family friends ask... then everybody starts to argue over seriously what Muffin's gender is.

I was also wondering, is it normal after it evolved to kind of lose all it's personality? I remember when Muffin was in it's larvae stage, it was so social and fun, it would follow me, it would take food right from my hands, I have it all on tape. Now Muffin kind of just... sit's there. Although I did catch it trying to climb then it saw me and tried to walk over and kind of fell... and it was too lazy to move so it just stayed in the position for hours. It dosn't mind being held (only did this to to move it so I could clean its tank) and it kind of just sits there, no big deal. Is this normal? I don't catch it eating either, although I find fragments of bugs and stuff here and there dragged across the tank, so I know it is eating... It used to be so plump and would devour everything. Not so much anymore... it looks really skinny. It's shedding skin too, I can see it's coloring coming in much more now. Not sure if it is still recovering from its metamorphosis? It also stays in really weird positions; it will sleep or stay upside down and my mom will freak out and think it's dead, sometimes it sits on top of the bush I have and just stay there upside down. You will see it's tail flopped over and it's belly in the air.

Anyways, just some questions I have. I hope I posted in the right forum.

Thank you all for reading/ helping!

 

[Kaysie]

It's quite difficult to tell with these guys unless they're in breeding condition. They don't always become sexually mature in the first year, so wait til the spring, maybe not this year, but next year. If it plumps up huge in the spring, it's a male.

Tiger sals are not marathon runners by any means. They usually don't do a whole lot. What kind of set up do you have?