My spike

Its amazing to see how much difference there is in the same species...even in the same colour type. I've only seen a small sampling, but so far havent seen two the same.
this is my Spike.

Do you have any more pictures of Spike...he really reminds me of a tiger salamander larvae

i'm confused i guess....i heard they were kin to tigers but retained the larval form. is that not accurate?
is he not then an Axolotl?!?!
i AM confused.
anyway- these i took today- its all i have.sorry they are a bit blurry.he was 'hanging out' in his plants.

K9

I would have to agree with Bella and say that is a Tiger Salamander larvae. Lol, you got duped!

so he'll one day morph into a tiger? and be more land based?
does this change the way we care for him? water temp, water depth, etc?
does it change anything else i might need to know about?

he'll loose his pretty gil rakers?!?!

K9~~now sad... and still confused.

That does look like a Tiger Slamander larvae. How long have you had him? Has it been over a year? If so there might be a chance that he never morphs out at all. And that would be sweet. It would also make him worth a pretty penny. If he morphs he will need to live on land in moist potting soil. He'll need to stay at the same temp and eat earthworms, wax worms, slivers of fish and live crickets. He will need a hide and a shallow water bowl. Thats all if he morphs though. How long have you had him?

i've had him about 10 days. so not even close to a year.
we were told he was about 3mo old. the guy had some that were ( he said) 10mo old but we wanted a younger one and watch him grow, etc.
i hope he retains his gills.
i also hope that if he morphs, its a couple years from now ( the link said 5mo to 3 yrs age) so we can enjoy him being aquatic for awhile and not have to redo his tank any time soon.
what about his looks makes him look like a tiger? the stripes or something not quite as obvious to us beginners?
thanks for all the help!

K9

Note the resemblances in patterns and appearance. Tiger salamander larvae and axolotls are extremely similar, but you will have quite a beautiful pet when and if it eventually morphs. Just keep your eyes peeled for signs that he is ready to become a full fledged tiger salamander. You will find lots of information on the forums here regarding tiger salamander care. I had one when I was little and I loved him !

Plus the fact that you're located in Oklahoma... land of the "baby dinosaurs". This happens a LOT to people in tiger sal range. The larvae are 'farmed' or harvested, and sold off as pets to unsuspecting owners. Good thing you found us though!

no kidding! i would have thought i had gotten a rare morphing axie!
Dh wants to know if its possible to breed tigers and axies together, if spike could be a hybrid and then stay neotenic?
we really like the idea of an aquatic salamander- and i read on that Caudata Culture page that some tigers retain external gills.
any chance of that? or horridly slim.

what makes me mad...and i'm sure you dont know the answer.. is WHY did the guy tell us it was an Axie? if he is breeding them ( as he claimed) then wouldnt he know full well they were tigers? and if he didnt... what is he doing selling them (raising them) in the first place.??
so he is either ignorant or a liar. or a liar and a thief.
i think Spike is cool and Shizeric said he'd be pretty and a good pet-so dont get me wrong... i'm just irked that we were lied to, intentional or not.
ok..getting off my soapbox.
thanks again for all your help.

Tiger Salamanders reach sexual maturity at 4-5 years old (according to pededucation.com). So the Tiger would be passed its larval stage, and therefor would not be breeding with an Axolotl. The odds of your Tiger Salamander remaining in larval form is unlikely, so you should expect to be caring for a Tiger Salamander someday. It may be intentional that this "breeder" is falsely selling axolotls because they are usually in high demand...or it may be completely by mistake. I would certainly ask him about it, but don't be too confrontational about it.

You technically COULD breed tigers with axolotls (and it has indeed happened), but in this case, you were almost certainly duped.

The guy did it because people will buy it. "Axolotl" sounds cooler than tiger salamander, and people will buy them. This, unfortunately, happens a lot. Other people's stories can be found here and here and here and here. You get the idea.