Hello From Texas - tiger salamander info?

Hello,
10 years ago I purchased a couple of "water dogs" from a bait shop and kept them as pets for years. I couldn't believe they were ever used as fish bait due to how cute and interactive they were.

I decided that I would like to get a tiger salamader/water dog for my boys to keep. What happened to all of our local salamanders? The bait shop which is the only place that I knew of in Houston said he hasn't seen any in 6 months and I can't find anything on the internet. Just curious if this is a nationwide thing due to environmental problems or lack of interest?

Would be very interested in getting a pair and attempting a captive breeding. My school district I'm certain would be very supportive in my project as they would be fantastic to observe in the classroom as they morph then recollected for future breedings.

I have a very large area indoors and outdoors for a project and our mostly mild climate here on the Gulf coast I think would be very beneficial to a set up. I'm under the impression from what I've read that tiger's have more successful breedings while outdoors or simulated weather conditions of over wintering.

If anyone has any advice or recommended reading, please let me know.

Thanks,
Jamie

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Tiger salamanders are not the easiest to breed in captivity...in fact, it has been done fairly rarely. Have a look at the 'stickys' (first 5 posts) from this sub-forum for members' accounts of breeding tigers:

Species, Genus & Family Discussions - Tiger Salamander & Axolotl (<i>Ambystoma tigrinum</i>, <i>A. mavortium</i> spp, etc.) at Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Portal