Sick/dying tiger salamander larvae

I apologize for making my first post a thread, but i figured this is the best way to get an answer. i purchased a tiger salamander larvae in november 09. he was in bad shape, white skin (scars?) and missing most of his tail. i brought him home and put him in a tank, and he did great. this wasnt my first larvae... fed him small goldfish, minnows, rosies, occasional nightcrawlers.. and he ate everything else he could, snails, larger fish, algae eaters, small crabs.. ect. i wanted to make the tank a more natural aquarium, so i had alot of different things in the tank. anyways, in may, i got a large tank from someone, and i cleaned it, and moved him into it. he had alot more room, and it went well. a few weeks ago, i put some mussels and clams in the tank that i had caught (being native to where tiger salamanders live, i thought this was no big deal) to help keep the tank clean. i also removed a ceramic log that was too small for him to get in, but he would try anyways, cutting him. a few days ago, i noticed he would sit around with his mouth slightly open. this wasnt normal behaviour, so i watched him more closely. last night, i noticed his stomach (he was always huge) was swelling and getting enormous. the skin was white near the coastal grooves, and there was obvious blood to the surface of his skin. he was in clear agony, and i debated putting him in the freezer, so he wouldnt die painfully. i decided to wait it out, and see if i could post here for some answers and maybe i could figure out what was wrong. sadly, i found him upside down this morning. so he passed.

where did i go wrong, it was me, and how can i avoid this in the future? i wouldnt say i was uninformed pet owner, ive had salamanders and newts all my life. but obviously, something went wrong here.

i appreciate the help.

If you purchased him in November of 09, when did he undergo metamorphosis? He should've lost his gills and gone terrestrial, so keeping him in an aquatic set up could have led to him drowning.

But there were a lot of things in that tank that shouldn't have been: fish, crayfish, crabs, mussels, etc. None of those things are native to tiger salamander habitat.

What kind of substrate did you have? If he swallowed pebbles, that could have led to impaction (and subsequently swelling and such).

It's also good that you didn't put him in the freezer. That is not a painless form of euthanasia.

he never did undergo metamorphism. he retained his gills, and his broad tail. which leads me to believe he was neotenic.

obviously, the fish were feeder fish, minus the algae eater, and the mussels are not native to here, but live here. (i say they are natural because we have tigers here, though ive only ever seen 1 in the wild.)

he had regular aquarium rocks. i wanted to do sand, but i was afraid that would plug and fry my filter.

honestly, what i believe happened was he ate a snail whole. shell and all. and he wasnt able to pass the snail shell and that either blocked him, or it remained in his stomach and got infected. thats all i could think of.

i want to get another larvae ASAP, but i also want to change anything i may have done wrong too.

there were no crayfish, i had 1 crab that actually predated the tiger in the tank, that was tiny and he ate that really fast.


that was him before he got sick. you can see some parts of his tail never regrew. (when i got him, he was in a tank with turtles that were eating the hell out of his tail and sides)

He looks like an axolotl to me...

Also gravel=bad for any salamanders as they can easily ingest it and become impacted.

Thats is 100% an Axolotl. Not a Tiger salamander larvae. If you still have it I would look at the stomach contents. I'm almost positive it became impacted from ingesting gravel. Gravel should NEVER be used in a Axolotl or tiger salamander tank. They eat it and become impacted. Use either sand or a painted glass bottom tank. You could also use smooth slate tiles on the bottom. Its a shame what happened but everyone on this site has screwed up somehow and killed one of their animals. Anyone that screams the loudest that they didn't probally killed the most. So don't feel bad just correct the mistake next time and you will enjoy your Axolotl for years. If you ever need help just drop me a PM. If I can't help. I'll direct you to someone who can.

BillYannone said:

Thats is 100% an Axolotl. Not a Tiger salamander larvae. If you still have it I would look at the stomach contents. I'm almost positive it became impacted from ingesting gravel. Gravel should NEVER be used in a Axolotl or tiger salamander tank. They eat it and become impacted. Use either sand or a painted glass bottom tank. You could also use smooth slate tiles on the bottom. Its a shame what happened but everyone on this site has screwed up somehow and killed one of their animals. Anyone that screams the loudest that they didn't probally killed the most. So don't feel bad just correct the mistake next time and you will enjoy your Axolotl for years. If you ever need help just drop me a PM. If I can't help. I'll direct you to someone who can.

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i could look at his stomach, but i buried him yesterday. i dont flush my animals, if i care for them, i should respect them enough to bury them.

i am already redoing my tank and removing the gravel to replace with sand. either way, i appreciate the help. i wont make that mistake again. i also had the filter on high, which i read stresses out the animal. so i will correct that as well. the tank is in my basement, so it usually is between 65-70 degrees.

thanks again for the help.

When you get another, it would be good to consider feeding it mostly just earthworms and nightcrawlers as they are the best food you can give them nutritionally. Then you can give it treats like bloodworms and wax worms occasionally. Its best to stay away from anything that might have a hard shell and to keep it in a tank on its own, with no other species to avoid it eating something that might be harmful to it.
Anyhow, sorry for your loss and I wish you better luck with your next animal.

Jackulwulf said:

When you get another, it would be good to consider feeding it mostly just earthworms and nightcrawlers as they are the best food you can give them nutritionally. Then you can give it treats like bloodworms and wax worms occasionally. Its best to stay away from anything that might have a hard shell and to keep it in a tank on its own, with no other species to avoid it eating something that might be harmful to it.
Anyhow, sorry for your loss and I wish you better luck with your next animal.

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i do appreciate it. my overall goal was to have a tank with many life forms and such, with the axolotl as the centrepiece. i wanted snails, clams, minnows.... almost a self sustaining environment. when i was a kid, i saw these sealed globes that were 2/3 filled with water that had everything in them, plants, sand, insects, small fish, and even some type of aquatic salamander. the idea behind them was they were self sustaining. they were incredibly expensive, and i havnt seen them in a long long time, i was maybe... 6? but i remember it so vividly.. and sense then ive wanted to do the same thing kind of.. maybe its just not meant to be.

I don't know about invertebrates, but fish and axolotls aren't a great mix from what I've read on here- ok they can be good food, but they can't resist those lovely fluffy gills...

aeviette said:

I don't know about invertebrates, but fish and axolotls aren't a great mix from what I've read on here- ok they can be good food, but they can't resist those lovely fluffy gills...

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yeah, next time i wont do feeder fish, though i never ever saw the fish nip at the gills. are ghost shrimp ok? i know they wont survive long, but i figure theyll help keep the tank clean till they are scarfed down.

my "new" tank is up and running. sand bottom, lots of flat rocks and a few hiding places. just gonna let it run for a while, and hopefully get an axolotl or two next week.

thanks again.