Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The land tiger Salamander looks wicked!, I think it would be a unique and different pet, very attractive, a decent size too. I would like to have one (I'd actually name it Ali G) but the problem is that I live in Australia so there are no species of salamander at all in Australia. But some people here have Axolotls (the albino ones look ugly), I've seen them in pet stores in Australia, but I like the appearence of a land salamander. I have had an interest in these amphibians for many years. I am wondering is it possible to get adult live tigers to Australia?.

Nope, it's illegal in Australia to have any newts or salamanders besides Axolotls. You may be able to find someone with a morphed Axolotl, but they would more then likely have a short life span and not be too healthy.
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Hope my opinions help,
Rob

Thanks for lettin me know anyway, I had a funny feeling it was illegal, do they do something to the enviroment if they get lost into the wild. I live in Tasmania and the temperature in the town I live in rarley exceeds 28 degrees celsius (85 Farenheit), but the House usuallly is cooler then outside on a warm day. Anyway, I spose the wierd and bizzare Axolotls make up for it, the black ones stand out the most. Respect to all you out there.

Actually there are a number of salamander species present in Australia though admittedly all are illegal with the exception of the axolotol. Many of these species have been available in captivity for decades and i remeber in the mid nineties it was very common to find the European common or smooth newt (tritarus vulgaris) in aquariums and pet stores here in Melbourne. less common and much more expensive was the Japanese fire-belly newt (cynops prrhogaster). Occasionally other species popped up - but unlike the above mentioned species that were legally present in the country (but only by uni's and zoos) the animals would have been smuggled in. eventually as newts became more and more common in the stores (my local aquarium stocked fire-bellies and euros steadily for years) the NRE caught on and officially banned any non-axolotl caudates. After that newts became an under the counter kind of affair. Understandably these animals have the potential to thrive in the wild in the cooler southern states of Australia especially Tassie. but then again so do most aquarium species! I have no idea if there are any newt colonies living in the loungerooms of some hobart dude but if you want them - ask around at your local aquariums and reptile dealers. otherwise i know of stores in victoria that sell some pretty impressive morphed axolotls (do it yourself if you can get some thyroixin), that look very similar to tiger salamanders and although they are said not to live as long as regular axolotls looked pretty healthy to me. And are 100% LEGAL!