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Hello. New member with a newly aquired pet

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sandra

Guest
I have recently aquired a wild-caught Tiger Salamander in early November of this year.

My neighbour found him/her staggering around beside his car on a cold Fall morning. We think we know where he was hybernating, but children have disturbed the log in their front yard.

All indications are that I cannot release the Salamander this year, he will die in the cold, so I have set him up in an aquarium with the required interior decor. He eats waxworms and during the times when my one and only pet store cannot provide the live food, moistened dog kibble. My husband has dubbed him a tiny Alligator due to his voracious appetite and the way he shakes his food before swallowing.

Sal is quite the character and is becoming a beloved pet. It is more then likely that he/she will stay with me for life. I at one time had a wild-caught Rough-skinned Newt that stayed with me for 10 years
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I always pride myself in the extensive research that I do on the pets that are in my care, but I can find next to nothing on wild Tiger Salamanders or their care as pets......

How do you sex a Tiger Salamander? I want to give him/her a proper name.

Then today, I found this group
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dot

Member
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Hi and welcome to c.org!

I have a tiger salamander, a female, and I absolutely love her. There are a bunch of articles at Caudata Culture (http://caudata.org/cc/) that I found useful when I first got Ash.

On Sexing Caudates:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/sexing.shtml

On Tiger Salamanders:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml

I also suggest, if you can't get waxies at the pet store, pick up Nightcrawlers at your local Wal*Mart's sporting goods department or at a bait store. You can also try wiggling some small crickets (live or dead, but be careful with the live ones, because if left in the tank, they could injure the salamander) until it snaps. I wouldn't feed it dog food, because some salamanders have a difficult time processing mammalian proteins.

Anyway, hope that helps and I'm sure we'd all love to see some pictures soon!
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S

sandra

Guest
OMG, Dot, you and this Forum are an awesome wealth of information
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I wish I had found you guys a lot earlier. My Wal-Mart purchased Fire-belly Newt died last night after months of self starvation. I tried every food that was recommended to me. The only time he really ate was in September when I found some tiny maggots under a garbage bag. He ate a tiny waxworm 3 days before he died, but refused all others.
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Anyway, according to the information provided in the links you gave me, Sal is a Male, and will here-to-for-and-forever-more be known as "Piglet", which describes his appetite to a T.

Feeding twice a week, eh? You try telling him that. He will take food whenever I look in on him and will take whatever I provide, in whatever quantity I provide it. He will take live food, dead food, and my finger if I'm not fast enough in providing the food.
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But, since obesity is a problem we will cut back on the food. I say this as Piglet is blinking those big eyes at me in disbelief.

Mouse pinkies are definitely out of the question as a food source as I breed and raise rats for myself, 'nuff said on that subject. I can deal with waxworms, and mealworms.
Our Canadian Wal-Mart does not provide bait.

I am relieved to find out that I have provided him with the right aquarium set-up, right down to the long, shallow, see-through, rubbermaid tote, with holes drilled into the lid.

I'll get some pictures of Piglet and his accommodations ASAP. I don't know how active I will be here because I'm an active member of 5 pet Fancy Rat Forums and that's where I spend all of my time. You don't know how much I appreciate this Forum being on the internet. THANK YOU for all of your help.
 
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edward

Guest
Hi Dot,
I have yet to see a confirmed citation on the mammalian protien thing. This circulates constantly on a lot of the forums (usually linked to corneal lipidosis in anurans and pinks ignoring that corneal lipidosis is quite prevelent in anurans fed cricket only diets). The problem isn't in the digestibility its in the caloric density of the mammalian food items. For example on a kcal of usable basis pinkies are pretty much the equivalent of adult crickets however it takes 4 large crickets (1.25 grams) to equal one fairly small pink.

Ed
 
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clarence

Guest
True, but watching a sal stalk a live cricket is more entertaining in my book.
 
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