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Need some advice for a wild caught Tiger Salamander

theLacertakiin

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Recently I purchased an adult wild-caught Tiger Salamander from UndergroundReptiles which was shipped to me and I received it yesterday 4/18/2014. UndergroundReptiles claimed it was "Field Collected" and "feeding on crickets and other insects." So far my tiger salamander has not eaten yet. Having kept other reptiles in the past including an eastern tiger salamander I understand it's never unusual to have a herp that doesn't eat immeaditly as soon as you get it but the fact that this Salamander is wild caught worries me. I'm afraid it will have difficulty adjusting to it's new environment and I want to provide it with the best habitat and conditions possible to help it get cozy and ready to eat.

I'm keeping it in a 10 gallon tank and I have 4 inches of coconut fiber mixed with leaf-litter topped with a layer of sphagnum moss on top, all of which I keep damp. On the surface I have two hide outs, a cork wood tube and one of those semi-circular bark hide-outs and his water dish. A plastic plant is attached to the back wall. The temperature in my room is 73 and i'm trying to cool it down but with it being 64 degrees outside it's not making for a quick transition. I dropped some earthworms in his tank earlier today as well.

If there's any advice, tips, or tricks to get wild caught Salamanders to acclimate to captivity that would be greatly appreciated.
 

sde

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First off i would like to say that 73 is a little too high. 65-72 is recommended.

Secondly i would say not to worry about him not eating. You just got him and he's still adjusting to his new setup. Try feeding crickets and earthworms/night crawlers.

As for the setup, i would say try and copy his natural habitat. If you don't know where he is from you could maybe contact UndergroundReptiles and ask them? They might know. And if they do you could just look on Google maps or look at pictures of their habitat.

Hope this helps! -Seth
 

markg

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A bit off topic. I was considering getting my Tigers from there as well. Please let me know how yours adjusts and such.

Goodluck!
 

Jan

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I react with a sinking feeling as sale of wild-caught animals is very disturbing...I cannot accept this practice. Having said that, have a look at this article: Caudata Culture Articles - Tiger Salamander 101

Your set-up sounds ok, try to get temps a little lower. As this animal has been very stressed, provide it with a dark, quiet, cool environment....it needs to de-stress.
 

theLacertakiin

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So I just checked up on my salamander today who I had left in a dark room for a days and he's not looking good. He looks a bit thin, and when in panic, he starts to make snorting noises, you can hear him exhaling. He seems to have like almost like a stuffed up nose because he's breathing out of his mouth. He also hasn't eaten yet as far as I know so today I changed his cage a little to what I think would mimic his natural environment a little more. I also believe the Sphagnum moss was preventing him from burrowing and he was stuck on the surface so what I did was I removed the moss and replace it with dead leaves. So now the tank is coco-fiber mixed with dead leaves and on the surface there is a layer of dead leaves.
 

sde

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What are you trying to feed him?

and when in panic, he starts to make snorting noises

Why would he be in panic in the first place? He definitely shouldn't be in panic!

I have absolutely no idea why he is breathing through his mouth, that's very odd. I have never seen any amphibian do that.

Now that you have changed the setup again try and leave him alone. He is probably stressed as could be. Add some crickets to his setup and maybe some worms and just leave him be for awhile, he is still adjusting to the new setup, and captive life in general.

Hope he start eating and start breathing and acting normal :happy:
 

theLacertakiin

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He panicked when I tried to take him out of his cage today to take out the sphagnum moss because he certainly couldn't be in there if I was to do that. I have tried to crickets, dubia roaches, and worms. In his cage I left plenty of night crawlers and earth worms and today I just got a shipment of dubia roaches. Crickets on the other hand I don't have steady supply of in my cricket container(they're all dead) but I could just snag a few from my monitor's tank tonight and drop them in the salamander cage.
 

sde

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He panicked when I tried to take him out of his cage today to take out the sphagnum moss because he certainly couldn't be in there if I was to do that. I have tried to crickets, dubia roaches, and worms. In his cage I left plenty of night crawlers and earth worms and today I just got a shipment of dubia roaches. Crickets on the other hand I don't have steady supply of in my cricket container(they're all dead) but I could just snag a few from my monitor's tank tonight and drop them in the salamander cage.

Ah i see.

Just put some stuff in there, and he will probably eat some at night. But if he doesn't then just leave the stuff in there and over the next few days he probably will eat.

Keep us updated :happy:
 

RPM

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If your salamander is not eating, do not keep the crickets in with him for an extending period of time as they may bite him causing wounds. The worms are fine. He may be stressed, though tigers usually eat readily after unpacking. Try to keep him in the 60’s degree range, though low 70s should not effect his eating, they just won’t live as long. Not sure why he is breathing through his mouth, this is not normal. It’s best to leave him alone in a dark area. Keep us updated.
 

Bellabelloo

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Could you add a photo of him ?
Is he still making the snorting sounds?
I would just add plenty of earthworms and leave alone as much as possible in a cool quite area.
 

RPM

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Try moving the tiger to a small empty cage ( I use a plastic critter keeper) and place an earthworm in with him. Leave them together for an hour or so. The action of the crawling worm with no where to hide may entice the salamander enough to eat. Also try cutting the worm in half. I’ve had them eat a half a worm but refuses to eat a whole worm. I sometimes have difficulty getting a couple of mine to eat after over wintering in my garage and other times one eating fine will go off food for no reason. If he still refuses to eat worms, try something fast moving like crickets. Once again, just keep them in this set up for an hour or so. You could also try placing about ½” of water in the critter keeper while tempting him to eat worms. This worked for one of mine that refused to eat after morphing. You may have to try this daily or every other day. Usually once they start eating they’ll eat everything in sight.
 

theLacertakiin

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Here are some pictures of him that I have provided as attachments

He is riddled in blemishes and his stomach is very grotesque
 

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Jan

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Truly sorry for your loss.

As I said in my earlier post, I always have a sinking feeling about sale of wild caught adults - too often the experience ends in tragedy. The animal did not look healthy. Sorry that your efforts to save it were not successful.
 
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