9 Arizona Tiger Salamanders thriving, 1 is not

Hello,

I work in a native fish lab at ASU & obtained some AZ tiger salamanders from a lab next door (they breed them and do a *lot* of research, but are *completely* overwhelmed at the moment).

Anyway, I obtained 10 juveniles ~2 months ago. They had just transformed into the terrestrial stage.

9 of my guys are thriving (I'm shocked at how quickly they are growing--good god!). I've been feeding them all by hand with mealworms. They beg every time anyone (including our cats) come up to the tank.

While 9 are really thriving, one looks emaciated and won't take food. He was one of the runts from the get go. He also looks darker than he did before. Perhaps his skin is shedding (I thought I might have caught a glimpse of some shedding, not sure), but I don't know.

I try to feed him in a separate part of the tank, away from the other, monstrous ones, and he just won't take any food. I'm getting really worried--I don't want him to starve to death.

Is it possible that most of the other 9 are cannibalistic morphs while he is not? What can I do? While the other 9 are growing like crazy, he simply is not thriving & it breaks my heart. Help!!

Sundevil girl

p.s., one of the AZ Tiger Sals in the lab next door is at least 23 years old--they found her 23 years ago & are not sure how old she was at the time. Cool, eh?

A myriad of things may be going on with the the small one, but have you tried offering different food items, such as small crickets or pieces of chopped nightcrawlers? May need to entice by using a long pair of tweezers or skewer to hold the food. I have some tigers who will just eat one type of food - while others eat anything.

I think that if this small one is going to have a chance, it must be separated from the larger ones. Trying to feed it in a separate area of the tank was a very good idea, but if that doesn't work, you have to separate it to another tank or container. Sometimes the simple STRESS of being with much-larger animals will amplify whatever other problems the animal may have.

Did the lab next door recommend mealworms as their diet? My opinion is that earthworms would be somewhat better as a staple. You can find some very good info about the nutritional profiles of invertebrate feeders here (PDF):
http://www.nagonline.net/Technical%20Papers/NAGFS00397Insects-JONIFEB24,2002MODIFIED.pdf

Does the adjacent lab actually BREED AZ tiger sals? In captivity? If so, I (and a lot of other people who read this forum) would be very interested in as much information as possible about this, as tiger sals seem to be very resistant to most people's efforts to breed them in captivity.

Thanks so much. I just cordoned off ~1/5 of the cage for him such that he can't see the other salamanders. Should that be ok, or can he still detect their smells, hear them, etc? I will also go to a couple of pet stores today in search of some alternative foods, as was suggested.

Regarding the breeding--let me double-check. I know the same guy has been working with them for ~30 years and they have tank after tank after tank after tank of sals who are still in the larval stage (is that the proper term for the young ones who are still water-bound?)

He also mentioned that some of the ones I have are actually hybrids of different subspecies. He emphasized that as one of many reasons why they should never be released (I would never dream of doing that, working in a native fish lab).

I got the impression that they were hybrid in the lab, but let me double check--perhaps they collect everything & bring them in. They also have a few endangered Sonoran Tiger Salamanders, which he let me take a look at. I felt pretty privileged.

Sorry--rambled--let me check when I go back in.

I just lost him in the past hour or so. I'm a little choked up at the moment. Yeah, he's "just" a salamander, but I am sure that most of you agree that every little creature is precious and the world is a little bit lesser without him. Little sweetie. :-(

Everyone here knows he was not "just" a salamander. I am sorry for your loss.
I hope the other 9 keep thriving for you.
All the best. Michelle.

Sorry to hear that it died. It sounds like he wasn't quite "right" somehow.

If you ever get a chance, our site needs photos of both the Arizona and Sonora tigers for this page:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml
If they invite you to look at the Sonoras again, take a camera

Wow those are some really neat animals you have, you are so lucky. Especially to have the privledge to see Sonoran Tiger Salamanders!! Good luck. Sorry about the little one , good luck with the *9* others .

Thanks so much, guys. I'm sure I can go next door and get photos of the Sonorans--I talk to the guy pretty regularly.

Yeah, 9--they're getting huge. I kind of spoiled them by feeding them all with tweezers & now that's what they want. Oops.

Pics would be super cool, especially if they're hybrids.