Tons of tiger salamander questions...

[lisette]

ok I have a tiger salamander, oliver and he'll be four years old in august. I've had him since he was in his larval stage and i wanted to know how long they lived. Second, sometimes he is 'fat' and sometimes he's 'skinny' i like him fat...which is better for him? When i bought him at pets mart they guy said he would stay in his larval stage forever, he was wrong lol if it wasn't for my dad who studies things like that i think he would have died. But I want an axolotl...where do you buy one? Lastly in these four years he's never been sick, hes always the same color and no spots or anything (knock on wood) but what are common illnesses that i should be looking for?

check out oliver http://hometown.aol.com/catpig45/myhomepage3.html}

 

[sharon]

Where do you live?

In AZ its next to impossible to find true axolotls. At one point I had FOUR magical morphing axolotls. Yep, tiger salamanders. Idiots.

On the east coast its a bit easier to find them.

Ordering them on the internet is fairly expensive. The animals are reasonably priced - its the shipping that kills you! But if you are really interested, try Michael Shrom. I'm pretty sure he has/had an advertisment here. Be sure to check out the "For Sale or Trade" American section and have your dad talk to Michael via email.

I just bought 6 gorgeous axolotls from Michael, and really, I couldn't be more pleased!

Our salamanders are about the same age too. Mine too has never been ill. Keep an eye on his weight. His weight fluctuations may be due to an internal parasite. A fecal culture taken to your vet would tell you pretty quickly if that were the case. As I remember the life cycle/breeding cycle of some intestinal worms causes the host animal to cycle its weight like that. The adults die off, the babies hatch and the animal gains weight, as the babies grow, the host animal gets less nutrition and loses weight, etc etc etc.

As for what signs of illness to look for. Try caudatas species care sheets.

I think mostly you are looking for lesions & fungus externally. Internally, bone deformities but that is only a concern if his diet has been limited or inadequate.

Good luck,
Sharon