Tiger Salamander ALWAYS in the water

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hsburton

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My tiger salamander became an adult about a month and a half ago, but he (I think it's a male as it is not fat like a female and has a longer tail) refuses to come out onto land. He naturally spends all of his time in the water near the edge of the tank where he looks out at two of my dogs who spend a lot of time looking at him with (benign) interest.

He has a hearty appetite and seems otherwise chipper. There appears to be no problem really. To be on the safe side, I was wondering if anyone else has experienced a tiger salamander who prefers to lounge in the water rather than go on land and if this is a symptom of any problem.

Thank you
 
They really like the water during breeding season.

Have you provided substrate deep enough it can completely burrow itself into? Tigers spend most of their time buried. He may be hanging out in the water as he cannot bury himself and conserve moisture.
 
Thank you for the suggestion.

To answer your question, yes, I have provided substrate in the form of moss for him to bury himself in on the gravel portion of the tank. Also on this land section, there is an adequately sized half log that I got him at a petstore and under which I put more moss for him to burrow in. The log protects him from the light and allows him to hide, if he wants. For about a week after I purchased him he hid in there and buried in the substrate, and I thought he was "normal" according to this forum and the books I have read. However, then he returned to the open water and hangs out there at the "window" looking out.

He is my first tiger salamander, so it is strange because if I did not know from my outside sources of information that tiger salamanders were supposedly more terrestrial than aquatic as adults I would guess from his behavior that they prefer water over land!

Perhaps the answer lays partly with his past experiences? He was sold to me at a clean and well kept local petstore where he and his siblings were kept during the day in water even after they had morphed into adults and then the petstore employees would return them to a container that had half water and half land at night. The staff, who are knowledgable and reliable at this store, told me that he had morphed recently when I bought him. Do you think perhaps that he got into the habit of staying in the water at that store though he was there for 3 weeks maximum? Can salamanders adjust and change their habits according to their circumstances and experiences? His interest in and interactions with my dogs suggests strongly that they are certainly much more self aware than one would presuppose before observing one.
 
Mine won't leave the water. He won't touch the land parts.
He's still energetic and voracious, but he hates land. He hates it alot. He's never had any sort of land phase, he doesn't like to touch it. He has NEVER walked onto the land part of his own will. So I'm wondering about this question too, since mine is the same.


Maybe yours doesn't like the gravel? I've never heard about anyone keeping one in gravel. (Mine has several inches of coconut fibre and soil. He seems to like sand, but that sounds disastrous to me out of water...)
 
The gravel is your problem. Tigers really need a soil type substrate like Eco-earth(coir) or actual dirt. Nor do they need an aquatic side- adult tigers are completely terrestrial. A dish of water to soak in is fine, but daily misting is better. From what you describe, it sounds to me it is trying to take the easiest route it thinks will take it away from the far too wet conditions. This stress and the wet conditions will shorten your pet's 20 year lifespan quite a bit.

Have you read the tiger salamander sections of the Axolotl Site and Caudata Culture?
 
...As soon as I wrote that last post, mine decided land is the way to go, and everyone over here is happy. He's digging in the coconut/dirt mix, and being dirty and adorable. (Especially adorable.)

I gave him a dish with maybe an inch of water, which he had been staying in for quite a while until... whenever it was I wrote that post, and I'm making it smaller and smaller. (He runs in every once in a while, I assume to rinse the dirt off.... He just runs in. does a lap, sits there, then goes right back out.)


Is there some type of soil product I can buy at a petstore to mix with the coconut fiber? I feel I need more dirt, but I'm having trouble finding any that I'm sure it has no additives.
 
I use organic topsoil from Home Depot. The brand I use is EcoEarth. It works great. I've used it for years and not had any problem. I usually mix it 1:1 or 2:1 soil to coco fiber.
 
Yay, thanks~

I was afraid I didn't have enough dirt, and your dirt estimates are alot higher than what I have. (I have more coconut than soil.) Earlier he went after a worm, and got coconut salad instead. D: I think his coconutty terrain is too rugged for his soft salamander skin, especially since he's taken to just hiding under a broken terra cotta pot instead of digging. (Though he did hide in the same pot when he was underwater. Maybe he likes it.)

I keep finding water absorbing things at gardening places, but I have to go to the home depot anyway for other things, so hopefully mine will carry something like that. If not, several people have recommended... Jungle Mix? I think that's what it was called. (I called around after posting, and that's what people kept saying to go with. But I'm hoping for dirt cause... cheaper and all. Also, I need to replant things anyway, yay double tasking.

...On a good note, the guy I was talking to at once place was like "A salamander? Well, he's probably fine with sand and gravel..." Then a guy came from behind going "No!! They're not lizards!!" and proceeded to go on about moisture and soil and such. After that the first guy came back saying he was a reptile guy, and most everyone coming in had reptiles, and he was glad he was never confronted by it before, or he might have sent someone off with a reptile setup for an amphibian. Which might mark the first instance ever of a pet store person not insisting they're correct.
 
I am having this same issue. I have had a tiger salamander for 15 months in a fully-aquatic setup with a floating island. He spends all of his time in the water, swimming around and just looking cheerful. He only comes up to the island to look for crickets than goes right back to swimming and crawling around the vegetation in the water. He does not have gills, but surfaces every so often for air.

I want to move him to a terrarium, but he seems to enjoy swimming so much but maybe it's just my human error of seeing emotions in an amphibian.

Any suggestions?
 
Thank you very much. He is now in a terrarium with 6 inches of 1/2 coconut fiber 1/2 organic soil with several hiding places and a small water dish that I will change often. I have not seen him in the last two days, but I can see that he kicked up a lot of soil under one of the hiding places so I imagine that he is somewhere in there. How often do they usually surface? I check on him very often and he still hasn't come out, even after putting a few gut-loaded crickets in with him.
 
Mine stick their head up when they're hungry. Otherwise, I hardly ever see them on the surface.
 
That's comforting because I haven't seen the guy in 4 days now :( He must be lovin' it haha
 
I believe it has been over 2 weeks now and I still haven't seen him. I don't even see how he could breathe. I'm kind of worried but I don't want to go digging him up if he is okay. Should I leave crickets in the terrarium to wander around in case he is popping his head up when I'm not around? I'm not even sure where in the terrarium he has burrowed, there are a few spots where soil was kicked up before he made his disappearing act. I hope this is totally normal! :(
 
Some of my tigers may burrow for a few weeks to 2 months at a time while others seldom. They tend to burrow more during the cooler months. This is normal behavior. He will surface when hungry. Do not place the crickets in the enclosure until he resurfaces.
 
As an update, he finally came out long enough for me to feed him after a month or so underground. Thanks to all for the support, I'm glad to finally know my little guy is doing just fine.
 
Crickets can bite salamanders, leaving pretty bad wounds! Don't leave them unattended in the tank.
 
sometimes moss can be the issue with salamanders. some mosses are toxic to salamanders and some salamanders have more sensitive skin and are more picky so some unfertilized top soil, coco fiber might be good. heard sphagnum moss can be harmful to salamanders as well. i don't recommend using soil, dirt that can get very messy when wet and don't use gravel. sand, top soil, coco fiber is okay though. so be very careful about what kind of moss and substrate you use.
hope this helps.
 
Why is dirt bad???topsoil is dirt after all in at least a large measure of its make up ...can you explain please...is it just because you find it messy ???seems as natural of a thing as one could use ...I am new to tigers but not to amphibians,have theee American Bull frogs I raised from tadpoles and I have kept aquatic turtles for over thirty years.....
But with the tiger I must admit I’m out of my comfort zone...but my substrate is washed dirt and coco fiber mixed half and half roughly in varying depths from two to eight inches ,a small water dish not much more than a large kitchen serving spoon...actually it IS a kitchen serving spoon ,handle remove smooth sanded and placed flush in the substrate ,won’t even cover him completely when full ,is this okay?????also assembling a diy fogger tomorrow placing on timer for three times a day five minute mistings...is this okay?? I’ve read constantly for two days about these guys but in my turtle experience I find field work and hands on experience are far superior than formulaic knowledge from simply reading...so I am here to learn in earnest...thanks
 
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