Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i'v had my tiger salamaner for about 4 years, so hes probably around 5 years old. i found an american toad last year and kept it. it was medium size, not too small, not too big, so i put it in with my tiger sal. they went together too well! they would always be together, on top of each other, follow each other, you couldn't even seperate them with out one going nuts. one time i was going to pick up the toad but he wrapd his arms around the sal and i could not get them apart. but...recently...i put the 2 in a tank with crickets to eat and the sal ran after the toad and started biting and even chewing on him. so i put them in seperate tanks. this is too sad, i hope toad will be ok. do you know why my sal is doing this? and will he mabye stop?

It would seem unusual if it was a normal routine that you followed when feeding them if they had been doing it for a long time, but you always have to remember that you are dealing with a feeding situation, and when that feeding mechanism is triggered, tiger salamanders are ready to go! I have 3 tigers together that I have to separate to feed (at least move them to separate parts of their vivarium) or they will go for the cricket, or worm, and if they miss, continue right on the nearest toe or tail of another sally. That happened one time, and that was enough for me. Again, I just make sure they are far apart and feed them separately. You may observe them in a non-feeding setting and see how they get along, then maybe physically remove them and place them into different boxes/tubs/etc. to feed them. Mixing species tends to be a problem for some keepers anyway, so it is not too surprising that this would happen.
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1.0.0 Thamnophis proximus
0.0.3 Ambystoma tigrinum mavortium
0.1.0 Graptemys ouachitensis
1.0.0 Chrysemys picta

First off, amphibians don't have feelings and don't miss eachother. They lie together because one animal provides a moist thing they can hide behind or next to, and they probably both enjoy the same areas of the tank. Be realistic, especially when it comes to mixing. You shouldn't mix amphibians, especially not a toad and something that's not a toad in a tank. That's just not providing the right care, even if you do everything else right, which isn't happening in this situation.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

When the toad grabbed onto your sally it may have trying to go into amplexus with it. I have seen a toad grab onto the back of the head of a eastern hognose and not let go, because it thought the snake was a mate, when really the toad was just prey. Amphibians don't miss one another, as already mentioned. I may understand this behaviour if these were colonial animals. But they aren't in the wild they are solitary animals. And as pointed out by may other people on different posts, animals of different species shouldn't be housed together, or else mistakes can happen, ie during feeding time. Also these animals require two different environments! This is not meant to blast you! Just some words of advice!!
hope this helps!
Kristen

Like ecbiomajor said, tiger sallies are really agressive feeders they will go after anything. If your tiger sal, bites your toad, your toad will release toxins that can kill you toad.
Toads are pretty friendly, and will probaly get along with things in its tank as long as it doesn't try to eat the toad, or if the toad tries to eat it. I have seen toads come out of burrows greeting their owners expecting food. Alsom they amplexus with everything.
You should sepparate these two. Tigers are agreesive feeders, and toads are poisonous, and amphibians are not social, certain species can tolerate other amphibians, but they won't miss each other.