Tiger salamander care

[KingCam]

Tiger salamanders are easy to care for, but I'd say a 12x12x12 is pretty small. A 20 gallon long would be more appropriate.

You'll want to provide at least 4" of coco fiber, eco earth, or organic all natural soil mixed with sand. Tiger Salamanders belong to a class of salamanders known as Mole Salamanders, and they have that name for a good reason! You can probably use moss with no bad consequences if you are tong feeding. If there are bugs crawling around in there freely I would probably avoid moss, just in case your tiger gets a big mouthful trying to hunt.

Provide a water bowl big enough for your tiger to submerge itself in and perhaps swim around a bit. They will swim if you give them the space to do so. They also spend a lot of time in the water around breeding season.

70F is fine. Tiger salamanders will die if you overheat them. They like it cool, year round. Anywhere between 60-75F is perfect. 80F is way too hot.

Humidity is not a concern as long as you keep their substrate somewhat moist. If they are feeling too dry they will simply soak in their water feature or burrow into deeper substrate to find moisture.

For hides I just throw some old oak leaves and a few chunks of wood in there. They usually burrow into the substrate making the hides useless anyway, but I like to give them the option.

They will eat anything that moves. Offer them crickets, roaches, and earth worms as a staple. A pinkie mouse every couple of months is supposed to make a nice treat, but I have never given any to my tigers. I would tong feed if I were you. Tigers are kinda dumb, most of your feeders will escape into the enclosure to hide forever instead of getting eaten if you don't tong feed. Plus, by tong feeding you make your salamander excited to see you every time you walk into the room Mine come out of their burrows when they hear/feel my footsteps coming into the room. It's awesome, like a welcoming party! :P

Lightining is not necessary unless you're growing plants in their tank. Like you said, just enough ambient light for a day/night cycle will be fine. 12/12 should be fine also, or you can do summer hours of like 14/10 if you notice your tigers trying to brumate (12/12 is typically considered fall/winter hours.)

Here is a little visual guide on putting together a false bottom tank with stuff you probably have laying around:



^ The tupperware containers are so I don't have to use as much hydroton. I drilled holes in the sides and bottoms of the tupperware containers to allow them to fill with water. The holes are barely visible in this photo.


^ Used hydroton to fill in the gaps, and rocks & gravel to hold stuff in place.



^ Time to make a divider to keep the substrate separate from the water. I chose this lid because of the pre-formed lip it has. I was hoping it would help keep the substrate from spilling into the water side.


^ Lined it with long fiber sphagnum to help prevent substrate from leaking into the water. Later I went back and drilled a bunch of tiny holes in the blue plastic for drainage (not pictured here).


^ Cover plastic divider in coco fiber or platation soil mixed with sand (organic, chemical free).


Add plants.





And done!!


Here is another tiger salamander setup.



Now with leaves added!


Here are the two blotched tigers begging for food... again...


I like to put duckweed and frogbit in my water sources. Looks more natural and awesome :P



Good luck, your tiger is soon going to be your new favorite animal :P