New tiger salamander HELP!!!

Hey everybody this is my first post on this site and I would really appreciate some helpful feedback.

I just got my first salamander and I need any advice you can give. He is a 4 in (eastern?) tiger salamander.

Right now I have him in a semi aquatic 10 gal. The water is probably 2.5 inches high at it's deepest. I have sand as the subsrate. I have no filter but I use a siphon to change 90% of the water every 2 days. I know that the tiger is supposed to be a terrestrial salamander but at the store he was pretty much kept in an all aquatic tank. My original plan was to keep him in semi aquatic for a while and slowly ease him into terristrial so I don't stress him out too much. But in my set up he spends almost the whole time in the water. Does that sound right? Is he just stressed out? Is it something that he will grow out of?

My other questioins are:
Is sand an ok substrate?
How much and often do I feed him?
What should I feed him? (so far I've only done newt/salamander pellets and wax worms)

I would really appreciate ANY advice you guys can give me. Thanks

Forget the semi-aquatic set-up. Never trust the pet store, what they did was entirely wrong. The salamander is most likely spending such a large amount of time in the water due to a high stress level. He'll be much happier in a terrestrial set-up with a substrate of cocofiber and/or organic top soil.

I'd start out feeding him once or twice every two days or so feeding him as much as he can eat in about 15 minutes. The best foods for him at the moment would probably be earthworms or waxworms.

This care sheet should help answer many of your remaining questions: http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml

Good Luck!

I bet you got him from Kingsnake.com I saw those little guys for sale there. A 10 gallon tanks will be fine for him for probally the next 3 years as he grows. Like Nathan says forget the semi-aquatic set up. Put in 2-3 inches of the top soil co co fiber mix. DO NOT USE miracle grow or any soil that has added fertilizer. It should be moist but you should not be able to squeeze water out of it with your hand. That is to wet. Put in a small plastic bowl. The kind that you would get from a small microwave dinner is perfect. Fill it half way with water. Put in a few bark peices that so he can choose where he wants to hide. Add a few dried leaves and maybe a vine plant to grow across the back of the tank. Feed him 2-3 times a week. At his 4 inch size a single garden worm will be enough or 2-3 wax worms. The best food for him will be earthworms. But I would mix in wax worms with their high fat contant for a few weeks to fatten him up. Then I would just go to once a month with them just as a treat. Be careful not to be tempted to over feed as Tiger Sals can become obese very easy. I know this from experience. Crickets will also be good for him but you must (gut load) feed the crickets. Most of their nutritional value will come from what is in their stomaches. Feed your crickets chopped Collard Green and Kale as these are loaded with B and C vits, calcium, and iron among other things. I also dust my crickets with Rep cal powder once a month. I hope this helps Good Luck!!!

Okay I think all of that sounds pretty "doable". Thank you guys so much for responding so quickly. I do have more questions though.

Okay first off where do I get the coconut fiber you guys were talking about? Pet store?
How should I clean the substrate or should I just replace it every couple months?
When he reaches full size how big of an aquarium will I need?
How quickly will he reach that size?

RLHam3 said:

ok first off where do i get the coconut fiber you guys were talking about? pet store? Yes, cocofiber can be found at most pet stores under the brand name "eco-earth" or something similar. It's usually found in blocks that need to be reconstituted with water.

how should i clean the substrate or should i jus replace it every couple months? You got it. You pretty much just replace it once it starts getting old or sour.

when he reaches full size how big of an aquarium will i need? A 10g may end up being fine, however I'm sure he'd appreciate a 20g Long at full size.

how quickly will he reach that size? I believe that really depends on how much and how often you feed him.

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I hope this helped.

Hey I don't really think that this will make a huge difference but thought that I should mention it just in case, I'm pretty sure that it is not an eastern, I'm pretty sure that it is a blotched tiger.

RLHam3 said:

hey i don't really think that this will make a huge difference but it thought that i should mention it just in case, i'm pretty sure that it is not an eastern, i'm pretty sure that it is a blotched tiger

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If you review the care sheet that Nathan linked, you will see that it doesn't matter.

It will probally take 3 years to reach full size but how much you feed it and what you feed it will lengthen or shorten that time. Replace you substrate every 2 months. And yes you have an
Eastern Tiger Salamander. Which does not change its care.

Hey post a picture of your Tiger. I think I confused your tiger sal with another post . Let us see so we can help you better. Eastern and blotched can look alike sometimes. Let me give you my best guess. Please post a picture