Tiger Salamander questions

[missclick]

I'm considering purchasing a beautiful tiger salamander from a local breeder/supplier guy and I'm a bit hesitant because im worried about temperature and feeding. I spoke to the guy and he said it eats pinkies, worms, crickets, and fish and needs a cooler temperature.

I guess im curious if its okay to feed it a regular diet of crickets as i dont have many of those other foods on a regular basis.

Im also worried because i think i will have to keep him in my fridge, for summer at least because it gets to the 90s and hundreds here. I worry that it will be a constant enough temperature to keep it happy

any suggestions?

[John]

Firstly, read these:

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tiger salamander

Axolotls - Metamorphosed & Tiger Salamanders

No one truly captive breeds tiger salamanders for sale in the US, so you're looking at a wild caught animal. If that's the case and you are worried about temperatures, I would get a tiger from one of the southern states (such as a Texas Barred Tiger). How hot does it get in your house?

[missclick]

thank you for the links!

I believe he gets them as juveniles and raises them to adulthood before selling them.

I try try try to keep my house at 80 or below in the summer.

here's a pic of the little guy http://images.craigslist.org/3k13m13...6af71914ab.jpg

[Philsy]

I love my tigers, although they do sometimes bite the hand that feeds. If you have a basement it would be the ideal place to keep it otherwise it will be just fine if you keep your home around 75 degrees in the summer.

[KennyDB]

I have half of my species in outside enclosures with tunnel"systems" to 1meter deep (cool in summer, save in winter)
For the species I keep inside or in tanks outside I have a winefridge to be on the safe side when it gets a bit hot. I lost a dusky-sal female and her eggs due to the hot weather...won't happen me again.

[JeffX]

Kind of looks like mine. I picked one up from Swanee's Exotics off of kingsnake.com.

I have mine in my bedroom which always cool year around. I know most people keep theirs around 65-75 degrees. My tank is usually around 75 degrees except at night it dips down to about 65 degrees or so. I haven't had any issues with feeding him crickets, waxworms, and nightcrawlers. Yesterday I dropped a few crickets in there, and he actually came out of his burrow to hunt them down.

Do you have central air or a window air conditioner for the summer months? Or you could find the coolest room to keep it in during those months as well.

[Tropicok]

A friend has notified me that his father caught a tiger barred salamander just for me. I had mentioned that I might (the optimum word here is "might") get involved with a special salamander project later this summer. Now this happened but what are friends for, eh? I guess I'll go get it this weekend and see what happens.

[missclick]

i still havent gotten mine, the fellow selling it still has it but with 13 frogs on my hands and summer on the way i just dont know if i should take on any more critters.

thats exciting! i hope you have fun with it

[Kurt]

A friend has notified me that his father caught a tiger barred salamander just for me. I had mentioned that I might (the optimum word here is "might") get involved with a special salamander project later this summer. Now this happened but what are friends for, eh? I guess I'll go get it this weekend and see what happens.

You're going to love it.