New Tiger Larvae Metamorphosis?

I recently bought a tiger salamander larvae from the mall. The man was selling them as Baby Dinosaurs ha. I actually felt pretty bad because I saw who was buying them, and I know that they were not going to get proper care. I am experienced in frogs and have done my research for my new little guy. When I bought him he was pretty stressed, living in a mall in a little container with gravel will do that to ya. But my problem is now that he is either still stressed or going through metamorphosis. He is losing the ridge on his back, tail is getting fatter, face is getting rounder, gills are receding and his appetite has waned. Pretty much I want to make sure of what I have exactly and what I need to do if he is actually turning. The actually look better now than when purchased but do not look fantastic. Also don't worry I took the pellets out when he didn't eat them.

He's going through metamporphosis. Time to drop the water level and make sure he can't drown. Forget the pellets, you will need to get live worms.

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tiger salamander
Caudata Culture Articles - Tiger Salamander 101

Looks like a northwestern species. Likely diaboli or melanostictum.

Pretty tiger.

They'll be your local tiger species. I don't think these 'baby dinosaur' sellers go far for their products.

Same here! Where are you from? I'm having the same "problem" with my tiger, he went through metamorphosis & now he's shunning his food. He hasn't eaten anything in 5 days now. I was worried but now I'm feeling a bit indifferent, I figured he'd start eating whenever he wants. The guy at the mall told me that he is feeding off the fats in his tail...

Its pretty normal for them not to eat several days after morphing, just keep trying and eventually they should get back into feeding. I would suggest inch or so pieces of worm, most species have a hard time resisting them.

Thank you everyone for the responses I just got back into town, Before I bought him I made sure to actually talk to the seller. He told me it was a Tiger Salamander he was also selling spotted tigers. He is from Oklahoma ans has 16 ponds there. But there were definitely more than one species. I live in Louisiana at the moment. Do any of you have suggestions as to what I should place in the tank for him to climb on before turning it into a terrarium?

A.m.melanostictum is extremely variable. One extreme looks like typical A.m.mavortium, and another looks like A.m.diaboli. All three are likely just variations of a single form. It's doubtful that there is more than one form in the store, and they are all just color variants of Ambystoma mavortium mavortium.

Alright everyone, I have one last question. When do I know when to change out water for substrate. I do not want to move him to a terrestrial setup to early or too late. Also, I fed him some earthworm and he loved it. I am also do water changes every/every other day. Any other tips are more than welcome.

kbrous74 said:

Thank you everyone for the responses I just got back into town, Before I bought him I made sure to actually talk to the seller. He told me it was a Tiger Salamander he was also selling spotted tigers. He is from Oklahoma ans has 16 ponds there. But there were definitely more than one species. I live in Louisiana at the moment. Do any of you have suggestions as to what I should place in the tank for him to climb on before turning it into a terrarium?

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Hey there! I also just bought one from a mall in Louisiana, and made a thread about Baby Dinos. I am really happy to see that someone else who got one is also interested in making the right home for their salamander. Mine is not doing so hot - think he may have eaten a lot of the gravel that was in his original tank. Well, I know for certain that he did because he keeps passing red and pink bits of gravel.

I know what you mean about the types of people purchasing them, but he was marketing them towards children as if they were toys.That was the impression I got. Good luck with yours.

This is actually quite a fascinating process. I will post some more pictures soon! I have my tank tilted and he is spending more and more time with his little head out of the water. I think in a few days I will make the move to terrestrial.

Alright everyone, he is now fully terrestrial! I have some pictures of him posted here. Please help me with identification as well as any feeding tips!!

You have a tiger salamander who will do well on earthworms, pieces of nightcrawler and other assorted invertebrates as described in the two articles above. I prefer to hand feed so that I know what that animal is actually consuming.