Instructions
Determine the gender of your salamanders. Females are typically wider in the gut but have shorter tails than males. Roll the salamander over on its back. The male will have protruding testes on the underside of the body just above the tail.
Give the breeding pair a "cooling" period. This means that their enclosure needs to be cooled off to mimic California winters, when tiger salamanders breed, so that their body will enter a reproductive state. Move their aquarium to a room that can be cooled to between 50 and 60 degrees. Leave them in the cooled room for about 60 days.
Withdraw food during the last 15 days of the cooling off period. Keep supplying the animals with water during this period.
Put the salamanders in a breeding habitat. They need to have a shallow pool on one side of the habitat with water vegetation in which to breed and lay eggs. Use gravel to grade the edge of the pool, so that it gently slopes and becomes dry land.
Bring the temperature back up to 75 degrees slowly, raising the temperature of the room one or two degrees every other day until you reach your target temperature.
Simulate rain in the environment. Use a sprinkler over the enclosure to "rain" into the tank environment. This signals to the salamander that it is breeding season. You will need to have several hours of rain each day.
Siphon the excess water out of the tank with an aquarium cleaning wand. If you do not do this, you will flood the salamander's dry land environment.
Watch for the male to start pushing the female around in the water. Often, it looks like she is riding on his snout. Breeding generally continues for one to two months after it begins.
Watch the plants along the pool and debris, like sticks or leaves, in the bottom of the pool for a collection of eggs.
Remove the salamanders from the breeding enclosure after the eggs are in place. The female salamanders are non-maternal, and so should be removed and placed in their normal habitat.
Monitor the eggs. They should begin hatching approximately two weeks after they are laid.
How to Breed a California Tiger Salamander
The California tiger salamander is a species whose current global population is of concern. In 2004, the California government named it a species of special concern, and in 2005, the federal government downgraded its status from declining to threatened. California tiger salamanders return to their native breeding grounds year after year to mate, so when a breeding ground is destroyed by human development, the salamanders return to the location and simply do not breed. In an effort to bolster numbers, the state allows certain licensed breeders to keep and breed the salamanders in captivity. Do not attempt to keep California tiger salamanders as pets or breed them if you are not licensed to do so.