Tiger salamander larvae change

[allegoriest]

I have a little tiger salamander (We call him the axauxlotl.)
He's been fullsize for several months, and is still all aquatic-like.

Two of his gills were always little, and I assumed they were growing into his body, and he was gonna evolve soon. But then they got all feathery, and stayed tiny. But some of them are now featheryless, and the water seems to be okay.

Do you think he's changing? I'm kinda worried cause, they're his gills and all. D: Breathing just seems like an important thing, you know?


I can't figure out how to google it, so I wasn't having much luck finding a very detailed account of the process, and was hoping one of you guys would know. Thanks~


...Another less important question:
He's kinda trained to see a dropper and eat small worms from it. I've been reading that some people notice behavioral changes in theirs during and after change. Is there a chance he'd remember that and still eat that way? Cause it's really clean and I enjoy that. D:

 

[Jennewt]

When they start to change, you should be able to see other changes in addition to the gills. The tail fin slims down and the head shape also changes. Just to be on the safe side, you should have some sort of land area for him to climb onto, and make sure the tank is 100% escape-proof. They can climb.

He might still be willing to eat from the dropper after he morphs, but I'd recommend switching over to larger worms. Pieces of chopped nightcrawler are also pretty clean.

 

[allegoriest]

Yeah, since I posted, he's started to change colour. He's getting it in little blotches. (I can't tell if the tail has slimmed down really...) His face also has like... more indentations? More bumps? I think I read it was his sensory organs or something when he grows up? I probably got that all wrong. eh heh... But he is starting to look more different. (I was terrified something was wrong since his gills looked strange.)

I've given him some spaces to lay out of the water, and since he'd jump at feeding time, I already have a mesh cover on top anyway.

I've been looking up larger worms to grow myself. I was thinking of earthworms, and I'm hoping I'll have that if I can find a decent culture, since I've read alot of them have secretions that are unpleasant, and I don't know what exactly my garden store carries.

but yay, thankyou~

 

[SammieFlan]

Hi!

Mine is going through the same thing right now. Do you have pictures of your set up?
I need some suggestions on how to fix my set up for mine right now. He still has his gills but they are a lot smaller then before. I was afraid if I took most of the water away he wouldn't be able to breathe. Never went through a morph before so I'm a little freaked out.

Thanks for any suggestions!! It sounds like your doing a wonderful job!!

 

[allegoriest]

He's pretty much fully changed from what I can tell, save some colouration.
...But he still won't leave the water. He actually won't use the islands I made for him.

I pretty much made an island for him out of stones. I have several broken round rocks in the sand, and placed slate on top of them, poking out of the water. He can't move it (he's tried. Alot.) but he can climb up. (I tested it by putting his food up there and watched if he could get it on his own.) I think he's mad though, because one of the rocks I used was his throne. ...He sat on it and stared out at my bedroom and now he can't do that.

However, he won't USE it. I KNOW he can get up there since I would always feed him there. But he'll stand on his legs against the glass and push his nose out of the water. I had him in his land tank for a day, and he wouldn't leave his pool. So he's back underwater. He has 4-8" of it, and he's swimming pretty well for being a salamander and all. But when he eats, he jumps in my hand and just kinda chills. So I don't know what's with him. He'll run all over me at feeding time, but then right back in the water.

...And he's been watching me type this. He just sits here, by my head, staring at my computer screen. ...Maybe he's hoping I'll look up salamander ladies or something.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

If his gills are all gone then it is time to take him out completely and put him in a terrestrial setup with a water dish just big enough for him to get in. Leaving him in the water is an accident waiting to happen.

 

[allegoriest]

I've read comments going both ways in the older posts, so I'm still confused. ...However, I like yours, since I want to move him. I want to move him BAD. (I've had his land home ready for almost two months.) But he won't touch the land part. (I have soil and the coconut fibre for the land and little anubias plants in the water and ground parts.)
I've been putting him in there on and off and he still won't leave the water.


I've been moving him into it when I'm working at my computer at night so I can watch him do all the nothing he does. ...His true passion is digging holes in sand, then sitting on the pile of sand he made.... But his land home has no sand. D: I can't get him to dig on land. I'll dig small holes for him, he'll walk in, look around, then run for the water. He thinks he's axolotl. D: Until I see him in the land part on his own, I just don't feel comfortable leaving him in there alone. (Oh god I'm an overprotective salamander parent.) Should I leave him in there anyway? Maybe he hates the substrate? I suspect I don't have enough soil in it.

I'm deathly afraid he's going to drown or something in the water though, and the first thing I do when I come home is make sure he's okay.

...Earlier he made a bid for freedom, and it ended with him trying to make a run for someone's cleavage. I think that's a good, nevermind slightly perverse sign.