Tiger Salamander husbandry and doubts

[Citrus]

I've had nipper for like 3 years now. I got him wen he was in the aquatic stage and he's always been a little nippy, hence the name. He's always done great, but I've had some doubts recently. I feel that my care for him may not be adequate. Here's my setup: 10gal tank, Eco earth/plantation soil. Water dish and a hide and normal fishtank light. I try to spray several times a day, but often miss a couple days. I don't think it matters since I'm in Fl and it is naturally humid.
I understand that amphibians will "shed" and I've seen nippers "sheds" on several occasions, and even sad him eating one once. It has been over a year since I've seen one though and this worries me. Is he just eating them all, or is this an issue? It would make sense that he eats them all because he will always take food no matter what he's eaten.
I've always tried to avoid hard bodies insects such as mealworms because I've been under the impression that most amphibians cannot digest the hard bodied bugs. What can I fee him that is common at pet/reptile stores other than crickets and wax worms? I would love to order roaches but I don't want to unless I plan on starting a colony which is a bit much for a single salamander.


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[Daniel.michelle]

As far as your enclosure, try upgrading to a 20 gallon tank or a plastic tub of similar size. they don't need a light, but ito helps them get on a cycle. Put about 6 inches of dirt in there for it. (I recommend bioactive substrate.) They burrow a lot and that's where they go for humidity. I could be 30% above ground and 80-90% underground. (Kinda like a humid basement) and as long as they have that humidity, then they will not have any issues shedding.

Their shedding process usually takes place at night. It doesn't last too long either (mine eats the shed and eats it while shedding. Like he bites and pulls the shed off with his mouth and swallows it.). Also as soon as it sheds it gets all messy again. As long as your salamander looks normal, it's fine. Maybe every few months put a bowl of water in its enclosure and let it clean its self off and look at its pretty colors under the mud.

I have never had a problem feeding. I have fed everything from superworms mealworms waxworms hornworms etc. Just keep it varied and you will be fine. I usually just feed mine my beardies' leftover bugs.

[Citrus]

Thanks!! I'm going to go pick some hornworms and super worms up this week. I'm also gonna see about getting a 20 gal.


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[TheAwkwardTurtle]

I know this thread is a little old, but I just wanted to comment as this seems to be a common problem with tiger salamander keepers.

Canadian and European nightcrawlers are an excellent and highly nutritious food for tiger salamanders. They also closely mimic what they eat in the wild. I know a lot of people are leery of worms because they think they have parasites, but that's really only an issue if you are catching your worms outside or getting them from a bait shop. If you get them from a pet store or online worm vendor (Uncle Jim's Worm Farm is great) then they should be fine.

European nightcrawlers are particularly excellent because they don't need to be kept in cool conditions like their Canadian counterparts so you can culture them like red wigglers. All you need is a ventilated bin full of soaked, shredded paper, peat moss (or other soil), and a fair amount of adult worms. Just mist them occasionally and feed them vegetable scraps and shredded paper or cardboard and you've got a self sustaining source of salamander food.

Highly nutritious, no hard bodies, easy to culture, and it's great fun to watch a tiger salamander play tug-of-war with a massive, muscular nightcrawler (great enrichment for the salamander in my opinion).

Just avoid red wigglers because a lot of amphibians don't like their taste (which is a shame because they are even easier to culture than European nightcrawlers).