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What are these guys?

heathern

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Hi. And help!

I'm a Kindergarten teacher that purchased 2 'dinosaur babies' at the mall back home. They were freaky little creatures and I thought my kiddos would go nuts over them. I got very little information but they were all in these plastic aquariums...seemed simple enough. Long story short....I don't know what I have so therefore I can't properly take care of them. The picture is from about 3 weeks ago. One had morphed, the other hadn't. They have since both morphed. One spends a good portion of his time mostly out of the water. If someone could just tell me what I have!!!
 

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heathern

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I bought these for my students. They were freaky little creatures that seemed easy enough care for based on their housing and information the mall guy gave me. It wasn't until I got home and started reading that I realized they needed more than a plastic aquarium. My problem is, I don't know what they are. This picture is from about 3 weeks ago. At that time only one had morphed. The other one started the other day. I can do research on my own, but only once exactly what I have. I want to make sure I'm taking care of them properly!
 

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Kribby

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Re: Hi. And help!

I am not an expert by far, but I have heard of people selling baby tiger salamanders as "baby dionosaurs" and he looks like a tiger sal to me.

I hope that helps.
 

Kaysie

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Re: Hi. And help!

Those are definitely tiger salamanders. Your morphed one needs a terrestrial setup. If you keep it in an aquatic setup, it may well drown.

You can find more information on this caresheet, and by reading this article.

And be known if I ever find someone selling 'baby dinosaurs', I'm definitely giving them a piece of my mind!
 

heathern

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Thanks for the guidance. I have a land aquarium set up for them now. But how do I know when they are ready for the move? I don't want to move them too soon!
 

nwmnnaturalist

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You can make a platform for them with the substrate you have in your land aquarium. They'll likely start to move up onto it and get used to it. They'll then likely remain on that platform for the majority of the time once they're settled into their terrestrial stage.
 

Kaysie

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Or if you don't want to do all the construction (although it's a good idea!), you can move them when their gill nubs are gone.
 

nwmnnaturalist

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I would just use a piece of bark or other flat surface and put substrate on it, then put it on top of the rocks (maybe raise it up a little with taller rocks so they can go underneath). Moving a rock so it can be a ramp up to the platform would be good.
 
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