My buddy and I have been periodically been visiting a cattle tank here in Arizona that has a large population of larval tiger salamanders in it. We first went there at the end of monsoon season, so we thought that all the larvae in the pond just had not metamorphosed yet. However, we went back last weekend and discovered some of them laying eggs. Then we looked closer and found many eggs already developing in the cattle tank. They must be neotenic, and I am guessing that the high fluctuation in tempurature this winter has triggered their breeding instincts. We also took a few of the eggs home to try to hatch them (and save them from the many turtles that also live in the small pond). Any comments or tips on hatching the eggs and raising the larvae?
I live in AZ too and have a mander I caught as a large larvae in a cattle "tank".
I've hatched and raised many larvae when living out east and found hatching them outside in temps like they experienced was more successful than hatching them at indoor temps, where they often succumed to fungus.
The problem, even outside, is that with a small volume of water, the temp fluctuations can be very great from day to day and even within a 24 hour period, I think that's hard on them as well.
If they hatch out, keep them well supplied with the same sort of buggery that you'd find in their stock tank...daphnia, cyclops, etc. very small earthworms and whiteworms are easier and most likely will be a staple unless you can get to a natural supply of the other. Sometimes the larvae will come around to eating pellets, which is very handy.
As mucky as the stock tanks are, in captivity keep them clean, or again, fungus has a way of taking over. Regular partial water changes are a must as is not crowding. They give off hormones and if the level rises in the water due to lack of water change or overcrowding, it will force them into premature transformation.
I've been lucky enough to find native populations even up at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, breeding in meadows flooded with snow melt.
Some of the cattle tanks I've been monitoring in my area are now frozen over, and some of the larger ones are too far down icy and rutted dirt roads for me and my little Saturn to get to. I had hoped to come across some breeding as well as determine if the population at some of the larger tanks is neotonic.
