I am a new tiger salamander larvae owner and i need some advice.. please read.!!!

[MissLizD13]

Ok so i have had a "waterdog" for 7 days now, and "she" i think seems to be doing fine. i have reptisafe or w.e. its called to help dechlorinate the water. i do siphoning of the tank bottom daily and small water changes daily as i siphon. i feed her about 2 worms every other day. am i feeding her not enough or too much? she has 1 hide away rock and 2 small fake plants. no gravel due to reading they can swollow it. i feed her from a tweezers.she has gotten use to it. i also have her in a 10 gallon tank with a 10 gallon hanging tank filter. i had gotten the tank brand new and had fish in it recently for about 3 days doing water changes and siphoning. i then put the fish in my big tank with all the rest of my fish after i got my salamander larvae. she is 9 inches long the length of a normal butter knife. i am unsure if i am caring for her right or not. i also have a thermometer on the outside of the tank that read 72-74 degrees. i live in colorado springs colorado and we dont have AC only heat so i am curious as how to take the water temperature down to keep her cooler in the summer. also i am unsure if she is neotenic or of her approximate age. i am thinking she is a barred tiger salamander. i am curious about how to possibly incourage her to start morphing. i wouldnt mind her getting bigger though..i hear they grow the most as larvae. any other information on what else i could feed her as well would be nice too. i had some (2-3) small feeder fish in her tank and she wouldnt touch them or pellet food i tried to give her. she eats night crawlers like no tomorrow though with no hesitation. ive heard you can feed them shrimp? can it be store bought like at a walmart and does it have to be cooked? she wouldnt touch crickets. any other foods i could try to get her to eat. also i am curious as to what specific species of tiger salamander she is.. below is my facebook page where her pictures and videos may be seen.


https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.duerr.pinkston/photos_albums

 

[Jan]

Have a look at this article from our Caudata Culture area for care of larval tigers and metamorphosing Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tiger salamander

Night crawlers are the perfect food; don't bother with other foodstuffs.

It is impossible to accurately sex larval tiger salamanders.

Subspecies really can't be determined without DNA and or locality of origin information.