New Ambystoma opacum

evut · Nov 10, 2010

I received 3 beautiful marbled salamanders today.
They are CB 2009 and are about 10cm long. Two seem to have a greyish pattern and one is more white so I'm guessing they're two females and one male.
Just a couple of pictures:

lexmiller · Nov 10, 2010

NICE! I think the Ambystomids are right at the top of the list when talking about best colors and colorations! These are great looking salamanders!

Bellabelloo · Nov 10, 2010

They are lovely Eva.

Opacum · Nov 10, 2010

Absolutely beautiful! GREAT markings!

crotusia · Nov 11, 2010

Beautiful specimens -- A. opacum is one of my all-time favorite species although it is sometimes a challenge for me to keep them cool enough where I live in steamy South Florida. I am wondering -- where did you get CB specimens??????

eljorgo · Nov 11, 2010

Hello Eva! Those critters are impossible to be CB2009, too big to be only from 2009 and produced in Europe. Rather WC to me as 80% of opacum offered in European union. About male/female yeah its true darker ones are rather females but in that case I guess its too soon to talk, at least in the pics they look all similar to me. I guess the difference has to be lot more pronounced like this:

Are they now fatter than in those pics? They look kinda slimy.

Cheers,
Jorge

evut · Nov 12, 2010

Hi Jorge,
I got these from Dartfrog and they were sold as 2009 CB imported from Germany. Considering that Dartfrog also sells WC animals which are labelled as such, I trust this information...well, there isn't much else I can do. 10cm is the largest one.
This one seems a lot whiter than the other two so I think he's a male and the other two are girls. The difference is more obvious than the photos show.
They don't seem skinny as such but not particularly plump either so I'm going to try and fix this. Any tips on favourite foods etc. are welcome.

Azhael · Nov 12, 2010

They look amazing, Eva!
I have to agree with Jorge, though, if they are 10cm long they are adult size, and it´s very unlikely that they would reach almost their maximum size in such a short time.
Dartfrog usually advertises which animals are WC, and i don´t think they would have a problem with selling WC A.opacum, so it´s strange. Maybe you could ask them who they got them from and contact the original breeder?

evut · Nov 12, 2010

I believe you both when you say the size doesn't correspond with the age.
I was expecting them to be smaller, 6-8 cm as advertised on the website. I really wanted CB animals and I had a good feeling about them... so it is a bit disappointing

I'll see if I can get more info on their origin.
They are beautiful animals in any case and I hope I can take good care of them. I would love for them to breed in the future but worry that WC animals might not reproduce in captivity.

Azhael · Nov 12, 2010

Well, they are not easy, but WC or CB, they can be bred, so don´t despair!

eljorgo · Nov 12, 2010

Well, they are not easy, but WC or CB, they can be bred, so don´t despair!

True...

Problem is if they carry some sort of parasites :S... Highly suspicious big animals from 2009 plus the fact being slimy isn't a good sign to me but I can´t tell that this end always bad... I´ve recieved WC Paramesotriton, Laotriton and Tylototriton in the most skinny conditions possible and today they are fat huge healthy beasts, one of them (the Paramesos being breed by me already and hopefully Laotriton will follow the example this winter and Tylototriton next summer.) So your Opacum may follow the lead and get fat to be breed next year Eva!! Good luck,
Cheers,

Jorge

evut · Nov 12, 2010

Jorge, I'm not sure they could be described as slimy...? The photos were taken when we took them out of their transportation box so they were covered in mess but they didn't feel slimy when we touched them.

evut · Nov 14, 2010

This is what the vivarium looks like.
Should they have a water dish or not? From what I've read about this species it seemed that they don't need it but correct me if I'm wrong.

Greatwtehunter · Nov 15, 2010

You can put a water dish in there but it isn't required.

Opacum · Nov 15, 2010

Evut, is the background with the assorted maple leaves on that tank homemade? It looks like it has a course feel to it. If so, it is wonderful! How did you make it if it is? :happy:

evut · Nov 15, 2010

Carlo, I did make it...nothing like a bit of primary school creativity to save money

I'll tell you how I made it but don't laugh too much.. washed leaves (caterpillars weren't allowed onto my collage), ironed them (not sure why, just seemed like a good idea), stuck to cardboard with all purpose glue and left to dry overnight with a flat weight on top. Not sure how long it's going to last but I couldn't find any cheap posters depicting forest scenery and large prints are quite pricey so this is what the guys got for now.

Opacum · Nov 15, 2010

Eva: you are my new hero! I LOVE that. It looks great! And it is unique and handcrafted. No one can boast that they have anything like it. And it does the job nicely. What more could one ask for? And see? I'm not laughing.

evut · Nov 21, 2010

Thanks for your compliments, Carlo :happy:

I checked the vivarium for gone off food yesterday and inspected the salamanders at the same time. I was very pleased to see that they are getting a bit chubbier. I have been feeding them chunks of earthworm.
I have seen one of them eat twice. The way she went about it reminded me of the film Alligator

The other two are more shy but obviously eating as well. Sometimes a piece of worm disappears shortly after I put it in front of their hiding place.

froggy · Dec 8, 2010

How are the opacum doing?

C

evut · Dec 8, 2010

Hi Chris, they are doing very well, thanks for asking!
I got some crickets the other day and they've been ripping them of the tweezers. It's very entertaining. When a cricket fell off and started hopping away I got to see some hunting as well. Huge earthworms are also no problem for my three little piggies.
I think they got used to their new home now. Soon I might have to start rationing their food a bit (I know obesity is an issue with this species). I still have loads of crickets, though :happy:

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