What's wrong with my MudPuppy?!

E

erika

Guest
<font color="0000ff"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica"></font>I got my mudpuppy from a foreign man that was selling them at the mall in Florence ALabama about a year ago. He spoke very little english, and could not even tell me what they were called. I spend two hours on the internet and FINALLY came upon this site that helped me SO much! I named him Dino, and he's been living in a 10-gallon tank with all sorts of fake plants, rocks, and even a thingy to hide in. I have a small water filter that hangs on the side-he seems to like it because it lets out little bubbles and he gets right on them. I have another tank with fish as well, and I am very good about soending every other Sat. afternoon to change the water in both tanks. Dino gets his so dirty that I have to tkake EVERYTHING out and wash it, treat the new water of corse, and put him back in. I drop a few shrimp pellets in each day and feed him a small feeder goldfish or piece of beef heart once a month. I went in to feed him and his gills were GONE!! He is making these "gulping" motions with his mouth, is losing weight, and the pigemnt of his skin has changed to dark spots all over. I have no idea what is wrong, or even if I can save him at this point-this happened in ONE DAY!! Can anyone help me?!?!</font>}
 
Hi Erika,
U shouldn't be doing 100 percent water changes that often... it destroys your biofilter (nitrifying bacteria and all) that helps to keep ammonia and nitrite levels low. The water may have gone septic due to the absence of the biofilter and Dino could have been infected by some kinda bacteria (i'm not too sure). Do only partial water (i do 1 third every week) changes using gravel siphon Your feeder fish may have introed some bacteria over that's why most pple dun feed feeder fish, stick with blood worms next time. With no gills, he is prolly low on O2 that's why he's gulping. Some pple recommend saline baths (i have no experince with em). Hope he gets well soon...

Sam
 
The things they sell at malls are not mudpuppies, but larval tiger salamanders. He is going through metamorphosis into a salamander. It is normal for them to stop eating during this period, but if he is getting very skinny that's not good. He needs some land to climb out on. Soon, he will need a terrarium (dirt and hiding places), not an aquarium. Read this, particularly the part about care during metamorphosis:
http://www.caudata.org/caudatecentral/caresheets/Ambystoma_tigrinum.html
 
Hi Erika--what you have experienced is a common failing with dealers, both in pet stores and in mall pet kiosks. They simply don't know what they are selling, and are primarily interested only in the sale. There are salamanders known as mudpuppies (in the southeast they are often referred to as waterdogs).True mudpuppies are aquatic and retain external gills throughout their very long lives. The larvae of many other salamanders are also aquatic and have external gills. Most of these resorb the gills-- stalks, filaments, and all-- as they mature (a few species [none of them pet store options] retain the external gills throughout their lives) they move either into shallower water or actually emerge from the water and live on land. Most of these latter dwell beneath moist leaf packs, beneath rocks and logs, or actually live in burrows (sometimes of their own making and sometimes those unused by small mammals or crayfish). As Jen and Nate indicated, the chances are pretty good that you purchased a tiger salamander while it was in its aquatic larval stage. It is now metamorphosing. Skin structure, eye structure, and many other characteristics change as the salamander becomes a terrestrial adult. To a hobbyist the most noticeable of the external changes will be a pattern/color change and the loss of the external gills. Tiger salamanders are a species in the mole salamander group. They are called this due their burrowing propensities. Check the page references provided by Jen and Nate for more information on these wonderful creatures. Rgds/Dick
 
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