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SwampApe

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Hello. I have my first Herp named Herb. Herb is a 5in long New Mexico Tiger Salamander that I saved from being musky bait. He matches the markings of a NM, anyway. It's been a fast friendship over the last 4 days. He already greets me at the side of his terrarium, poking his head up out of the fiber.

I assembled something that I think he's happy with. There is a small 6x6 water dish, a coconut hut, and resin skull laid on top of the requisite coconut fiber lining. I put in a few larger 3in rocks to make it easier to get in and out of his water dish. That is all lined with some long, feathery, plastic fish tank plants strewn like brush trimmings. He can dig, climb, and swim and does all three. He's active in there, but not neurotic like a lizard.

The appetite of this little fella is impressive. I gave him two small earthworms a day after I brought him home. He tore into them like a true predator, thrashing around like he was in a rock concert. I'd say he really likes them. Today, two days later, I gave him a moth and four small crickets. He's not shy about food at all, and he likes his water dish. BTW, I feed him with hemostats. The crickets are in a little critter-tote.

Most of the time he burrows in the
 

Kaysie

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Congrats on your new little dude! Tigers are one of my favorite species.

Chances are if it was a bait salamander, it's A. tigrinum. Pattern alone is not an effective means of discerning the subspecies of tiger salamanders.
 

SwampApe

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Good to know. He's a metamorphosized adult at about 5in long. He's a little on the lean side but definitely not gaunt. I'd say he's "muscular", maybe?
 

SwampApe

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I can't get a good close-up with a Flip Mino. I tried. I have a good shot of him in his hut, though. He's lean almost like a lizard. I'll fatten him up ;). I can already tell he's putting on a little weight.

Some folks feed them pinkies just to watch the death, but I'm just not that morbid. He looks big enough to maybe eat a day old pinkie but I'm not in a hurry to try it. Is there a rule of thumb on how big these critters need be before feeding them pinkies?

How fast do they grow?
 

Kaysie

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I've fed tigers that size pinkies. I use frozen-thawed pinkies. They're wonderfully nutritious, but don't feed too many of these, as they're quite dense in calories. I think the rule of thumb is that if it fits in their mouth, they can eat it.

He'll probably grow pretty quickly. I got a rescued juvenile, maybe 4 inches total, and within a year it was the same size as my other two adults.
 

SwampApe

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What should I look for as far as particular behaviors? He's not digging as much all over his enclosure since I put in his bigger water dish. There's not much open floorspace in there but it didn't seem to matter at first since he was burrowing so much. I thought he would be running/digging laps but he's pretty sedentary. I mist twice a day with a water bottle just enough to make it moist. He's had his fill of crickets, so I figure he's resting and growing.
 

Kaysie

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Tigers aren't the most active of salamanders. I usually only see my guys when they're hungry.

Crickets aren't a nutritious staple, unless you're dusting them with calcium supplement or gutloading them. Earthworms are more nutritionally balanced.
 

SwampApe

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Ok. Good to know.

Is it better to feed them in the water to avoid ingestion of the coconut fiber or any debris?

I am also feeding the crickets carrot pieces. Is that gutloading?
 

Molch

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I would also recommend getting eathworms, such as Canadian nightcrawlers available at bait shops. Those are very nutritious and salamanders love them
 

Kaysie

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If your tiger will eat in the water, that's fine. Mine are pretty violent when they eat and there's no physical way to keep them in a water dish. Coco fiber should pass through the gut fairly unhindered.

Feeding your cricket carrots is gutloading, but there's a lot more to nutrition than just carrots. Crickets are a poor source of calcium, and you will definitely need to supplement calcium by dusting the crickets, or feeding them a high-calcium food.
 

SwampApe

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He tears into earthworms like it's the last one on earth! Is feeding him both crickets and earthworms a balanced diet?

He is small enough to fit in his water dish and eat.
 

SwampApe

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He knows the feeding tweezers already and gets hoppy and snippy when he sees them. :smile:
I also took out the little resin skull since he doesn't climb on it, to give him more digging room.

He hangs out in his hut, digs, eats, and swims. I'd say he's happy and still quite exploratory. He sits in his hut most of the time and pokes his head out to greet me when I stop by the tank.
 

SwampApe

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What does a clear, slimy blob in the water dish mean? It's not white. It's perfectly clear and blob-like...
 

SwampApe

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Oh, my. Herb tried to lay eggs???

"She" seemed a little lethargic the last few days. I had "her" on my sofa and she stopped and wouldn't move for a few minutes. She then piddled. I hurried and put her back in the tank, but in the fresh water dish. I was rearranging the plastic twigs after she was in there for a few minutes and noticed this large, clear blob in the leaves of the twig. It was about an inch or so long and around.

It looked just like this:
egg_mass.jpg


A quick GIS search shows that clear blob as being an egg clutch. I couldn't see any actual eggs in it. She's suddenly territorial, hungry, and attacking my finger at the side of her tank. She took three crickets just now and seems quite a bit more perky!

The water has gotten noticeably colder to the touch. Does this stimulate mating behavior? I've read you folks trying to breed them and having a tough time. This was totally unexpected!
 
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Kaysie

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Tigers have laid eggs in captivity before, but it's extremely rare. And a 1" blob is probably not an egg-sack. They're usually right around baseball size. It's more likely that she threw something up.

Handling your salamander, especially on unnatural surfaces like the sofa, are really not a good idea. Salamanders have very sensitive skin. They're sensitive to chemicals and to dessication, and by handling the salamander frequently, you will stress it and possibly cause injury or illness. They're not really pets you can play with, instead they're more like fish: just for looks.
 

SwampApe

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Herb went back to normal pretty quickly. He's lively, hungry and still likes to dig and swim. No more weird blobs. It's easier to change his water after he's been fed. The little fella gets nippy when he's hungry.
 

SwampApe

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Well...someone is using all of this food to put on almost an inch in a month. I thought it would take six months for him to add an inch but not so. Herb now has a new 30x12x12 terrarium instead of a big Critter-Tote. He hasn't gone exploring yet but will find some nice driftwood, the resin skull, his nut hut, and the same little plastic twigs once he gets out of his bigger water dish. He's currently swimming some laps.

I can say I should have just bought this bigger enclosure right off the bat. He outgrew the Critter-Tote rather quickly.
 
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