Worried about my Ambystoma

[7mary3]

Hey all,

I've got an Ambystoma Mavortium Mavortium that I'm a little concerned about. I've been keeping him for about seven months, and he's at about eight or nine inches in length now. My concern is this: the last twenty four hours he's been actually laying in his water dish. He's completely alert and reactive, and ate just fine today (the day he stops eating is the day he's dead though, I swear he's a garbage disposal), but he's only left the dish once for a quick jaunt around. His setup is the same as it has been, no new additions or anything to freak him out. He's in a vivarium, and humidity and temp are all good to go. I'm just slighty concerned because usually the water dish is used for a quick rinse/bathroom (as intended). Just a strange change in behavior. I don't really know much about Ambystomas, as that I'm more of an invert guy, but Franklin is actually probably my favorite "pet". Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Please bear in mind that I'm not a novice and all standard husbandry conditions are met. With that being said, what gives?

 

[7mary3]

Anyone? Anyone?

 

[DrJ]

I don't personally have a salamander, so I'm not sure how much help this will be for you...but, salamanders do have a strong affection for water, and when they're juvies, they are literally aquatic. I know they primarily live on land as adults, but perhaps yours is just revisiting old times? Perhaps it just likes its water bowl now. I have a desert kingsnake cross and she LOVES her water dish. She'll go a month or so without ever going into it, and then suddenly spend a few days in it. And, this behaviour does not necessarily revolve around when she's getting ready to shed either. So, all in all, I'd think it's nothing to be overly concerned about...especially since salamanders do like water and are practically raised in it to begin with.

 

[7mary3]

Yeah, it's probably nothing to worry about. At this point I'm not concerned so much as curious. I wonder if it has something to do with our coming in to the spring months here in MI. I know that they head to water to breed, so maybe he's hoping to get lucky....

 

[DrJ]

Hmmm...that could be! Reptiles seem to be very good at knowing what the seasons are despite our efforts to keep their climates the same all year round.

 

[Galapoheros]

I kept Tiger sals in a large terr that was half water. I bought the salamanders at a bait shop before they lost their gills and became terrestrial. They spent most of their time out of the water after they transformed but sometimes I'd see them under water walking around. They would even still look for stuff to eat underwater after they transformed, as well as on land. I kept the water circulating through the gravel with a pump. So it sounds like your sal is ok to me. That's a big one. I liked keeping those too, they'd eat anything they could swallow, even fuzzies. They'd thrash around like an alligator and it doesn't hurt at all if they bite. And only a dollar or two at a bait shop in the US if you can find one that sells them. The diff from a pet store is that you "might" have to look harder for one that's in good shape at a bait shop.

 

[7mary3]

I appreciate it comment. I've gone from concern to curiosity. As I said, I'm definately more of an invert specialist, tho my tiger is my favorite (figure that one out, it's weird, i know). I'm sure he's fine now, so I'm really just curious about the behavior shift. I know that *true* captive breeding is pretty much unheard of with these guys, which is why I'm starting to get so curious with his attraction to water. He's definately a big boy, and if he's looking to mate, I'd be more than ecstatic. I can't imagine actually being able to facilitate a mating with this species in captivity. So again, curiosity arises. It's just such a strange shift in behavior, at least from what I've grown to know out of him. At any rate, I appreciate the replys from y'all. Good to know that the boards are useful outside of inverts, haha.

 

[GailC]

I've always wanted a tiger but they are few and far between in my area and they are kinda pricey when they do come through. Here is a great web site for salamander info
http://caudata.org/

 

[Freves]

I realize that this thread is a few days old but I am curious as to what temperature that you are keeping your Ambystoma at? I have a moderate sized collection of Asian salamanders and most species of caudates do not do well in the long term when kept in temperatures in the mid 70's and greater.
Chip