LeapinLizards
New member
Hello! I'm a new member here and this is my first post, so bare with me... Sorry for the long post.
I just recently had a Mudpuppy(yes he is 110% a mudpuppy) given to me from a friend who's family member couldn't care for it any longer. Since I breed and own crested geckos and leopard geckos (plus a random bullfrog tadpole) he thought I would be better to care for it... I was absolutely psyched and nervous.
I have researched for HOURS about their care and this site has been amazing for information.... I just have a couple questions and to make sure im doing this right...
A little background-
He is about 8in long, currently living in a 30 gallon tank with lots of fake plants and big rocks for him to hide in. I monitor the temp and its kept under 68 and I have a large filter as well as a aerator stone. I keep up with daily maintenance and proper water changes.
I've had him for about a month now. A lot of his care has been trial and error such as keeping bait fish in the tank(shiners, minnows, goldfish). The fish ended up getting Ich really bad, so I discarded all of them and freaked out thinking he would also get it and did a 75% water change and added aquarium salt to the tank, changed out the plants. I was going to treat the tank with Ich medication, but pet store seemed to think it would kill him. I didnt want to relocate him to a bucket for a couple days while i treat the whole tank because of the stress. He seems to be fine and actually is more active and swimming around now without the crowding of fish.
A week or two later he had this white growth appear on his head. I researched and followed the salt bath instructions. Removed the growth gently with a qtip and did a salt bath twice a day for about 12 minutes at a time. I've been doing this for two days now and it seems to be clearing up except for a small scar where it used to be. Also he had the little white worms behind his legs, which I read on another post to pick those off gently (it worked and hasn't come back).
Question- should I continue the salt baths? For how much longer? Any other ways to help clear it up since it is so close to his eye and I don't want to blind him...
Other random questions ...
I'm feeding him nightcrawlers, which I've seen him actually eat (awesome to watch) a few. Do I just throw them in the tank or can I eventually get him to eat them if I dangle them in front of him (hand tame)? They tend to dig into the rocks quickly and I lose them, but I'll see them come out every once in a while... Also I find them dead and gross after a while, which I don't want to mess up the PH...
I have two small crayfish in the tank currently, which i snipped their pinchers off... But he hasnt eaten them and its been like a week now. They are becoming ornaments Lol... Should I remove them or will he eventually eat them?
Goldfish... He's eaten one when I had all the baitfish in the tank, but I'm so scared to have fish in there again and deal with the Ich crisis .... Should I just put one small one in there for him to eat whenever or not bother with it?
Any other food ideas are welcome.
Again, my apologies for such a long post. I have finally found a place that actually can provide information about these amazing creatures... I am so obsessed with this Mudpuppy!! He is absolutely fascinating... He loves getting into the bubble stream from the aerator and riding it like a wave Lol... He is more active than I thought and is always swimming around (now that the baitfish are all gone).
Thanks for reading and any responses are welcome. I hope I'm doing this right!!
I just recently had a Mudpuppy(yes he is 110% a mudpuppy) given to me from a friend who's family member couldn't care for it any longer. Since I breed and own crested geckos and leopard geckos (plus a random bullfrog tadpole) he thought I would be better to care for it... I was absolutely psyched and nervous.
I have researched for HOURS about their care and this site has been amazing for information.... I just have a couple questions and to make sure im doing this right...
A little background-
He is about 8in long, currently living in a 30 gallon tank with lots of fake plants and big rocks for him to hide in. I monitor the temp and its kept under 68 and I have a large filter as well as a aerator stone. I keep up with daily maintenance and proper water changes.
I've had him for about a month now. A lot of his care has been trial and error such as keeping bait fish in the tank(shiners, minnows, goldfish). The fish ended up getting Ich really bad, so I discarded all of them and freaked out thinking he would also get it and did a 75% water change and added aquarium salt to the tank, changed out the plants. I was going to treat the tank with Ich medication, but pet store seemed to think it would kill him. I didnt want to relocate him to a bucket for a couple days while i treat the whole tank because of the stress. He seems to be fine and actually is more active and swimming around now without the crowding of fish.
A week or two later he had this white growth appear on his head. I researched and followed the salt bath instructions. Removed the growth gently with a qtip and did a salt bath twice a day for about 12 minutes at a time. I've been doing this for two days now and it seems to be clearing up except for a small scar where it used to be. Also he had the little white worms behind his legs, which I read on another post to pick those off gently (it worked and hasn't come back).
Question- should I continue the salt baths? For how much longer? Any other ways to help clear it up since it is so close to his eye and I don't want to blind him...
Other random questions ...
I'm feeding him nightcrawlers, which I've seen him actually eat (awesome to watch) a few. Do I just throw them in the tank or can I eventually get him to eat them if I dangle them in front of him (hand tame)? They tend to dig into the rocks quickly and I lose them, but I'll see them come out every once in a while... Also I find them dead and gross after a while, which I don't want to mess up the PH...
I have two small crayfish in the tank currently, which i snipped their pinchers off... But he hasnt eaten them and its been like a week now. They are becoming ornaments Lol... Should I remove them or will he eventually eat them?
Goldfish... He's eaten one when I had all the baitfish in the tank, but I'm so scared to have fish in there again and deal with the Ich crisis .... Should I just put one small one in there for him to eat whenever or not bother with it?
Any other food ideas are welcome.
Again, my apologies for such a long post. I have finally found a place that actually can provide information about these amazing creatures... I am so obsessed with this Mudpuppy!! He is absolutely fascinating... He loves getting into the bubble stream from the aerator and riding it like a wave Lol... He is more active than I thought and is always swimming around (now that the baitfish are all gone).
Thanks for reading and any responses are welcome. I hope I'm doing this right!!