Is my Tiger Salamander larvae morphing?

I'm sure you'll be helping some people with the documentation of your tiger's morphing ^.^
 
Here are some more pics. He is currently in a temporary Terrestrial setup, with Eco Earth substrate and a water dish. When his tank mate decides to morph (if ever) they will be moved to a 55 gallon terrestrial setup. He has nearly completed his metamorphosis! There will be more images as he continues his change. Thank you, Nute.

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Great setup, I'm sure he/she'll be wandering around on land in no time. ^.^
 
Just woke up, and he is not in his water bowl. Does he know to come out and get in the water if he dries out? How long will he stay buried for? Thanks, Nute.

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Hm, I'm sure he will know to get into the water dish if he does get too dry. I know mine knows where to find water when he needs it and he can go for a week without going into his water dish even when his substrate is on the dry side. Keep your substrate moist and you shouldn't have any problems. Tigers can tolerate dryer conditions then other salamanders and newts. I was concerned with mine two when I first got him, whether he would know where to find his water and he did fine.
As for how long he stays buried, I don't know but he should pop up eventually because he'll likely want to eat soon. If you want to you could try to dig him up and check on him but I'm sure he'll come up on his own soon enough, he's probably just enjoying his new surroundings and getting all nice and dirty lol.

Oh, I should mention that he'll probably come out more often without the aquarium light on. I mean it won't hurt him to have it and you can probably simulate a more natural environment by having it on during the day and off at night, but its not necessary either, he'll do fine either way. Its wholly up to you though ^.^ just thought I'd mention it.
 
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He found his water dish lol. he also seems to relate the water dish to me feeding him, I like that. I sprayed his eco earth last night and once today, being sure its moist not wet. The light in the pictures are just for feeding and taking more pictures. He gets roomlight for 10-12 hours and the rest dark. I just wish the little girl :Sally" wouls show some signs of change. So far her gills have gotten fluffier and her tail fin has grown all the way to the back of her head........makes ya wonder considering they were housed with Axolotls, and the pet shop said they came from the same breeder at the same time. Hybrid mabey? Surely time will tell. Here are two pics of him "finding" his water and getting it filthy ,and one of Sally the "possible" neotinic or hybrid. Thanks again, Nute.

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lol oh yea, they like to get their water all mucked up with dirt lol. And your tiger has some nice coloration on him. And now that he's morphed his tail looks a little longer then it did when he was a larvae so its hard to say whether he is male or female. I guess keep an eye on the vent underneath his tail, if it gets a bulge in that area then he's likely male. Females won't have a bulge there and they will usually be more plump looking.
As for your other larvae, perhaps she is actually younger then Nick. Roughly how long is she and how long was Nick when he started morphing. The pet shop says they got them from a breeder but in truth they were probably wild caught specimens. Tigers are very hard to breed in captivity and there are very few cases of success so the majority of tigers are wild caught. So who knows, perhaps the other is a little younger and may take more time to start morphing.
 
She is almost nine inches long so far, Nick morphed out at 8 inches. I think his colors may brighten up a little more. Thanks for the kind words. Nute.

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ok.....now Nick is acting very skiddish and will not eat unless its in the water, but only eats half of what he use too. anyone?
 
Hm, well I have read that larvae will sometimes spend a year in their larval state before morphing and can get pretty big before they finally do morph so I wouldn't say she's neotonic yet. So perhaps its likely she may decide to morph later on. Time will tell I guess.

As for Nick, perhaps he's a bit stressed? It may take him some time to adjust to his new life on land. As long as he is eating, even if it is half of what he ate before then I don't think you need to worry to much yet.
 
I haven't noticed any feces in his new setup yet, and he has been eating 2 earthworms a day since I got him, except for today, he only ate one and was very skiddish.

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How big are the earthworms you are giving him? And I wouldn't worry about not noticing a lot of fecal matter in the tank. I hardly ever find any in my tank and what I do find is usually in his water dish, I believe it must break down rather quickly or something. Just go over his tank once a week and if you find any remove it, if not then it probably broke down in the coco fiber. As long as he is eating still then you'll know he doesn't have a impaction in his bowels and he must be defecating somewhere.
 
Thanks buddy. The worms vary from three to eight inches. He did eat two big ones yesterday. The female did too. She seems to nip me alot when I'm feeding her or cleaning her tank. Could the temp be a factor for Nick? It got to 74F in the house today. I'm planning on a a/c unit for their room at the moment. It was 108F outside the other day and it took all the a/c's could do to keep it under 72F. Thanks again, Nute.

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Well one worm a day will probably be plenty for him, especially one of the eight inch long ones. He could probably even thrive on one eight inch worm every second day, or two three inch worms every second day. Though since he's still growing it probably wouldn't hurt to keep feeding him every day and if he keeps up with only eating one worm a day then there's no need to worry, he'll still be getting plenty. Just keep an eye on him getting fat ^.^ they can get fat pretty easily lol. Your lucky to have a tiger who actually eats earthworms though, mine is a picky boy >.>;; he doesn't wanna eat earthworms consistently lol. He also won't eat any other soft bodied type of food like silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, and waxworms. He likes crunchy foods like crickets and superworms, both which aren't really the best staple diet. I'm looking at getting some sow bugs though to test them out and see if he'll take to them, they seem to be nutritious and have little chance for impaction unlike the superworms.

The temperature is a little high though, but I don't think its dangerously high at 72F. Much higher then that however isn't good. You can also put in ice cubes into his water dish to cool it down a bit so that he can retreat in there to be cool for a little while on the really hot days. You can also try propping the tank up above the surface of the table a bit and use ice packs underneath it to help cool it down some. I thankfully have a basement where I keep my tiger that stays constantly cool whether its winter or summer so I haven't needed to keep mine cool so I'm not sure of all the ways to decrease the temperature. You could try searching the forum with the search function and you'll probably find lots of information about it. I don't know if that is what is causing him to be skittish though. Like I stated before, that could possibly be because he just made his transition to land. He's probably not fully comfortable on land yet and he probably hasn't learnt yet that there are no predators on land for him to keep away from. Once he realizes he's completely safe then he will probably calm down. As long as he's continuing to eat then just keep an eye on him.
 
Thanks. I tried reassuring him that I was not a threat but wetting my finger and gently stroking him. At first he was scared but he then became a little more comfortable with it. The heat is hard to get away from here as we live in a "swampy" costal area, and cannot have basements because we are below sea level. If I have to out of necessity, I may move him into the dinning room closer to the air conditioning. I will be getting and air conditioner for his room tho a.s.a.p., considering its only June and we have 2-3 more months of this heat. I feed him the amount I do because I would like him to grow, just not becoming obese. He usually eats all I will feed him and beg for more. As long as he will eat something i guess we will be ok. I'm getting the feeling you are correct about the stress of a new environment. When he first left the water, he burrowed like crazy. Now he just sits above the substrate inside his massive cave hideout. I guess only time will tell. About yours not eating worms. I would suggest fresh worms from a bait shop, and let them cool down overnight before trying to feed them to him, as they seem to be more wiggly and struggle more. I know that sounds cruel, but I think that makes them feel like a "predators"! Thanks again, Nute.

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Lol, oh yea, they love to beg for more even when they don't need it ^.^ and they say salamanders don't like to be handled or touched but mine likes to have his sides rubbed. Every so often I'll rub his sides and he arches his body against my finger, he's so cute lol.
Hopefully soon yours will calm down and become more comfortable. When I first got mine, he wouldn't even eat for the first week that I had him and to help him calm down, whenever I was in the room I covered his cage up with a blanket and after a few days of that he finally started to eat. And since yours is eating then he's not stressing too badly so he should calm down quickly.

Oh and I've tried everything to get mine to eat worms, I bought fresh nightcrawlers from the bait shop and had the container sitting next to his cage for a few days as I tried to feed him and they were wriggling like crazy. He nudges them around and shows interest but he just won't snap at them like he does with other foods. Often he'll sit there nudging the worm around a bit and looking at it for over an hour or more and he doesn't take even one bite at the worm, then turns to me and starts climbing at the glass, begging me for food even though there's a worm right next to him.
 
Well, he is still skiddish and will only eat a worm a day, where as the female ate 3 today and begged of more. Just a bit frustrating.......Nute

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Sorry your feeling frustrated with him, I know the feeling. My tiger causes me a lot of frustration with his pickiness. But there is little you can do if he only wants to eat one worm a day, try to feed him the largest worms you have if you want him to eat more. In time his appetite could increase and really one large worm a day will be plenty for him to grow. As for his skittishness, hopefully he'll calm down but it could be that he's just naturally a little skittish.
 
I hope not. He use to greet me at the glass with his little smiling face ever morning when he was a larvae. I didn't feed either of them today in hope that they will feed more tomorrow.

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Nute
As you are new to keeping tiger sals, you may find this article from Caudata Culture to be helpful:
Caudata Culture Articles - Tiger Salamander 101

In looking at your terrestrial setup, one thing I would recommend would be to replace your aquarium top with a mesh screen top. Tiger sal enclosures need to be well ventilated. Stagnant/humid air in the enclosure can lead to diseases. As you live in a 'swampy' coastal area - you probably have ambient humid air already...more reason for good ventilation.
 
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