Posted by Erin Pressler on November 6, 2005

Q: I live in Colorado. Last August (1 year ago) my Son found a salamander outside. The salamander is balckish green over the head and over the top of the body down to the tail. Her/his sides and under belly and greenish black. I think it's a Tiger Salamander from the photo's I have seen.

Anyway, one year and a few months later (yesterday) I went to clean his cage and I found a new baby!

How can this happen? What do I need to feed the baby? I feed the Mom crickets, but I have never seen the baby open it's mouth large enough to eat one. Do I need to worry about the Mom eating the baby? Now I wonder if I have been throwing eggs away when I clean the cage. Often times I find slime like stuff in the water, so I change it often.

Is is possiable my salamander changes sex's to lay an egg then turn around to fertilize it?

Thank you! Erin

Habitat: field/meadow

State: Colorado

Habitat: field/meadow

A: You have an interesting mystery here. I don't think this is a baby(young) Salamander from the original one you have had. I think you've got a different salamander in its cage that's been there all along. Tiger Salamanders lay eggs in fishless pools and backwaters and their young live in the water much like tadpoles until old enough to leave the water. Tiger Salamanders are carnivores and actively feed on earthworms, insects and other smallish critters, including other amphibians, so it sounds like your small salamander has done well to keep from being eaten. You'll want to provide food that is small enough for the little salamander to eat and this may mean you'll need to bring in soil/leaves/debris from the area you found it. There should be a variety of small creepy-crawlies in this material that will provide food, at least for a time. Of course, with the onset of winter you'll have a much more difficult time providing the right-sized foods. You might even want to consider releasing the small salamander so it won't starve.

Good thinking on your part to wonder whether your salamander had changed sex and was able to produce eggs. Some amphibians do change their sex as adults but not so they can fertilize "their own" eggs. Hope this helps to solve your mystery. Thanks for asking.

John Wiessinger ( November 7, 2005)