[zooherper]

I was given a tiger salamander larvae last year in May, and while the little guy is doing just fine, he doesn't seem to be any closer to morphing than when I got him. Are there any tricks to encourage him to lose his gills and come out of the water, or is it normally a long waiting game for this species? My experience with larval Ambystoma says they're usually pretty quick (unless they happen to be an axolotl of course!)

 

[Ed]

It depends on the population where the tiger salamander originated some populations will change before a year and some after a couple of years. You could try lowering the water levels and increasing the heat a little to try and cause a stress change but I normally recommend against doing that or treating them with a source of thyroxine.

There are also populations where there are padeomorphic individuals and it's possible that this is the case with your tiger salamander (assuming that it really isn't an axolotl)....

some comments

Ed

 

[R_jay]

I've a friend that when he was a kid would catch many of the "tadpoles" and he would raise temps and they'd morph quicker but also caused a percentage of his livestock to die


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[blackmudpuppy]

I was given a tiger salamander larvae last year in May, and while the little guy is doing just fine, he doesn't seem to be any closer to morphing than when I got him. Are there any tricks to encourage him to lose his gills and come out of the water, or is it normally a long waiting game for this species? My experience with larval Ambystoma says they're usually pretty quick (unless they happen to be an axolotl of course!)

In my experience (mostly with A. mavortium), original population/genetics, water quality, water level and photoperiod all seem to possibly be factors. I've had them morph anywhere from a couple of months, to one individual that took almost a year. The transition takes a lot out of them, too, and they become extremely susceptible to infections for the first few weeks out of the water, so keep everything as clean as you can once he starts.