caught a wild tiger salamander

[wildsalie]

I caught a wild salamander today, and my son wanted to keep it. So I put it in a temporary habitat with some moist papertowel a water dish and a few rocks and some grass. It doesn't look to mad I caught it, it just constantly smiles at me. Hehe

Has anyone had success with keeping a wild salamander. What would be the best food for it. Tell me your experiences please. What sort of ground cover do you prefer?

We also didn't realize we should not handle it too much until I read about it on the internet. Is there anything I could get for its skin, just in case there is sort of skin infection on it in the future.

Also will they eat dead moths, I caught one, and the stupid thing flew in the water dish, so I took it out, the salamander came over and stepped on it.

 

[John]

You should first find out what it is. Since you say it smiles I would bet it's a Tiger Salamander. Go here: http://www.caudata.org/cc and have a look through the "Ambystoma" species and tell us which one it looks like. How big is it? If it's a tiger it'll want to dig, not hide exactly.

As for food, have a look here: http://www.axolotl.org/tiger_salamander.htm
and here: http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml

 

[wildsalie]

It is a blotched tiger salamander.

 

[Kaysie]

Now you should be sure to check if it's legal for you to keep it. Some Provinces have laws against native herps and such.

But if you can keep it, setup is pretty simple. They prefer topsoil. I mix my soil with coconut husk fiber for bulk and to retain moisture. They'll use 4 or 5 inches of this and burrow within it. A small water dish is also usually welcome. As far as feeding, mine eat anything that gets in front of their face. Earthworms, crickets, and waxworms are the norm.

 

[BubbaPhat]

..

Was in a similar deal 2 weeks ago.. found this site and I now have a happy Tiger Barred living in a 10 gallon aquarium here in Texas.

Topsoil from a local garden supply store.. (Home Depot / Lowes / Wal-Mart) and they will be in heaven.. mine has taken to it amazingly..

Food.. Crickets seem to be what mine likes.. I drop in a few every few days..

Right now we have a total of 3 in the house.. 2 in the 10 gallon.. they seem to be ok.. looking at another setup asap for the 2nd. and the 3rd is in a smaller aquarium.. all eat crickets and the occasional earth worm..

enjoy.. and utilize the search here for tons of info.

 

[John]

Right now we have a total of 3 in the house.. 2 in the 10 gallon.. they seem to be ok.. looking at another setup asap for the 2nd. and the 3rd is in a smaller aquarium.. all eat crickets and the occasional earth worm..

Wow you got 2 more? I'm very curious to see photos of them please.

 

[Jake]

With all of the rain we've been getting here, I've heard of a bunch of tiger sightings near the ponds across town from me. One of my friends went to check it out and he brought me a newly morphed tiger salamander that still has gill nubs. He said they were just walking across the street after the rain. I have five now, all different localities, and I only feed them night crawlers.

 

[John]

What subspecies, Jacob?

I feed nightcrawlers and waxworms to my three metamorphs.

 

[shanerules]

answer

i use gravel with soil on top and moss on top of that. my tiger salamander enjoys earthworms accasional minnows and pill bugs. I hope this helped

 

[Kaysie]

Gravel isn't conducive (or comfortable!) for burrowing. Unless you have a seriously wet tank, it's not needed for drainage either.