Cricket Contest – October 2022 Winner!

[Elizabeth Alvey]

Meet the salamanders of Pringle Nature Center! The names of these four buddies are (in no particular order) Ty, Gir, Sally, and Manda. These four happen to be Easter tiger salamanders, which are pretty common in our area of southeastern Wisconsin. Two years ago, they started hanging out in the water feature next to the nature center and decided they didn’t want to leave, even when the weather turned cold, so we brought them into the center and now families get to see them lounging in their tank every day. We think they are about 3 years old, and could grow up to 8-9 inches long within a few years. Like tigers, they are both voracious hunters (chomping through dozens of crickets every day), and expert nappers. We would appreciate your vote to keep up with their big appetites!

Login/Register To Reply

Attachments:

1. 

   PXL_20221014_183032435.PORTRAIT2-scaled.jpg
   

[Elizabeth Alvey]

Edit: They are *Eastern* tiger salamanders 😀

[CritterDepot]

Wow! They are beautiful! Thanks for sharing. What kind of diet do these 4 friends require? And what kind of maintenance does their habitat require? I’m sure the kids love seeing them!

[Elizabeth Alvey]

Thanks! They eat all kinds of small invertebrates, including insects and worms. They need a moist habitat with a water dish, areas to burrow, and lots of hides.

[CritterDepot]

Ah nice, would you say it’s a bioactive habitat with decomposers like millipedes and beetles? Or do your or your staff have to clean out the habitat once a month or something like that? And do you use gloves to handle them? My understand is that salamanders have extremely absorbent skin.

[Elizabeth Alvey]

No, we currently have to clean out the substrate and features in their tank once a month, but we are planning to upgrade them to a larger, bioactive habitat this winter once we can get the tank set up and cycled. They do have very absorbent skin, so we thoroughly wash and wet our hands before handling them.

[ABMoore22]

Oh, these are awesome. Do they require any specific lighting? You wouldn’t think so but you never know until you do research. Do they have kinda pointed tails or do their tails look similar to their heads to confuse predators? Can’t see them well here. Very interesting, glad to see them. Later in the week I can get ya about 5ish votes. Share on your Facebook and I’d put out a flyer about voting for them next to their enclosure!

[Elizabeth Alvey]

I’ve seen different opinions on whether they need special lighting in their tank–some say they need a little UVB, others that they do not need anything extra because they spend most of their time “underground” anyway. Their tails are bluntly pointed.

[CritterDepot]

Congratulations, Elizabeth! You are this month’s winner for a year supply of free feeders! Ty, Gir, Sally, and Manda can feast well these holidays! Be on the lookout for an email with a custom coupon code. You can use this code to redeem your monthly feeders on our site. Thanks for sharing!

[Elizabeth Alvey]

We really appreciate the year’s supply of free feeders! We did not receive a coupon code and haven’t received a response to some emails to the company–is there another way we can get the code? Thank you for your help.

[Author]

Posts