Too much water?

[markg]

Well guys. I am looking to acquire a couple of Barred Tiger's. I put this enclosure together today to get ready. My concern is I may have misjudged the water feature, and have to much water in the enclosure. When i was drawing everything out, it seemed adequate without being over bearing. But once everything was finished, it seems like to much.

I have read from different sources about water in a tiger sals enclosure. And spoken with both keepers who prefer water, and some who swear against it. The substrate on the dry side rises up to 10". It's a mix of 100% organic soil, and coco husk. I still have a plant or two to toss in to liven up the enclosure. The rock background was from when it was an aquarium, and I was not about to rip every single piece of rock off, then clean the glass afterward.

Well here it is, ignore the filth. Water hasn't settled, and I still have to clean the outside of the enclosure.










Thanks in advance for your opinions. First time going to amphibians for me.

 

[morg]

Re: To much water?

Well as you already know Mark, I am one of the keepers who always used water in tiger sal tanks, and mine would regularly submerge fully in water bowls, and in the set up where I had the deepest water area, would swim around a lot of the time.
All water in mine was very easy to get in and out, of so these swimming sessions were through the salamanders own choices.
One of my sals would also ignore worms offered as food unless they got into the water, then it seemed to have fun stalking the worms along bottom of the water before catching and eating them

 

[Bellabelloo]

Re: To much water?

I have some juveniles that like to swim in their water bowl. Two of them will run into their water bowl when I come to feed them. If I feed them out of their water bowl they now always take their worm back into water ( I have taken to rinsing the worm in case there was something distasteful about them) . They do however make the water filthy as they use it as their toilet and transfer a lot of substrate into it too.

This year I am building them an outdoor enclosure, they will have a reasonable sized water section as I suspect they will make good use of it outside breeding season.

This is my post about my tigers, the last few pictures show what I have used in their tub.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...vortium-spp-etc/90898-ambystoma-tigrinum.html

 

[morg]

Re: To much water?

I have some juveniles that like to swim in their water bowl. Two of them will run into their water bowl when I come to feed them. If I feed them out of their water bowl they now always take their worm back into water ( I have taken to rinsing the worm in case there was something distasteful about them) . They do however make the water filthy as they use it as their toilet and transfer a lot of substrate into it too.

This year I am building them an outdoor enclosure, they will have a reasonable sized water section as I suspect they will make good use of it outside breeding season.

This is my post about my tigers, the last few pictures show what I have used in their tub.

Yep mine always used water bowl as a toilet just before they would leave it.
I contemplated an outdoor tiger sal enclosure, but went with fire sals instead.
look forward to posts and pics about the enclosure when done

 

[markg]

Yes the water has double the needed filtration on it. And it can be drained and refilled relatively easy. It stays at 69F, and is easily accessible.

 

[Jan]

For an aquarium-housing type indoor set-up, I am not a proponent of using semi-aquatic housing for an adult tiger salamander. For the hobbyist who wants to enjoy keeping tigers and is not trying to breed the animals, a semi-aquatic environment often is a prelude to problems. Maintaining a clean environment is much more difficult and can lead to poor husbandry and negatively impact health. Often, when we see pathogen problems, they are seen in these type of set-ups especially where ventilation is inadequate. I personally have seen an older adult tiger drown in this environment. Is it doable? Yes. Is it doable without risk? I’m not convinced.

So, I always wonder – are we thinking about the animal or ourselves when we consider these types of habitats. Adult tigers are fossorial animals that spend their lives underground, except during breeding season. Thus, if not breeding, no need for water and tigers are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity. I am a strong proponent of using a water-dish if water is desired…especially for a ‘first time’ keeper.

In my experience over the past 50 years, is that my tigers rarely use their water dish. First and second year metamorphs use it more frequently. As they age, very much less so, to the point of rarely using at all.