Tiger salamander colors

[damien]

I've always been a fan of Tiger salamanders (mavortium in particular), but I like the animals that are yellow+black. I've seen lots of pictures of tigers that are more brownish-yellow + black. Is this just dirt, or are there different colorations even in the same species? (In Ambystoma m. m. I see the bright yellow ones and the brownish-yellow ones.

Can anyone explain how the coloration works?
I've seen the images at caudata-culture and they show a difference in coloration between different subspecies, but color differences within the same subspecies are vague to me.

 

[IanF]

I can't give you a decisive answer but my personal experience is that it really depends on the individual. My Tiger's color are very bright but I've seen other Tiger Salamanders in captivity who's colors are barely visible and very bland.
However as you say this may be because of the subspecies of Salamander- in captivity it's near immpossible to identify the exact sub-species of your animal because they come from various suppliers and you'd need to track down where they or their parents were taken from the wild, and even then the two parents may have been different sub-species or the stockist may not even know.
Sorry if this hasn't answered your questions. All I can say is that most Tiger Salamanders never look the same and the only way to get one that you want is to pick it out yourself from a breeder or pet store. Even then, the coloration may chance with age.

So, it's a bit of a lucky dip to be honest.

Hope this has helped,
Ian

 

[visa]

It seems that the texas barred are especially hard to come by.

(Note from John: Corrected for punctuation and capital letters - hint hint)

 

[Dasher]

it really depends.
i have a bright yellow and black barred tiger salamander and hes great!
but i have seen many more greenish black in the same litter(or batch, whatever u call it). its just different coloration.
really nothing much to say here.