Your tiger salamander can't tell you the room has crept too warm or that it's stopped eating. baskr watches the pattern across your logs, temperature, humidity, weight and feeding, and shows you what needs attention before it becomes a problem.
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Doing okay
Tiger Salamander
Running warm
Averaged 25°C this week vs the cool 16–21°C it needs. Cool the room, warmth is the main risk.
Temperature
16–21°C · 60–70°F
Never above
~24°C · 75°F
Humidity
60–80%
Ideal ranges for Ambystoma tigrinum, the same targets baskr scores your logs against.
Basking and warm figures are surface temperatures at the spot; cool and ambient are air. Measure with a probe or infrared thermometer at the animal's height.
Nocturnal
Active by night
Across North America
Wild climate. Cool, damp grassland and woodland soils of North America; a burrowing life underground, well away from heat.
Why the care is what it is. This is why baskr keeps it cool at 16 to 21°C with no heat lamp, 60 to 80% humidity, and deep damp substrate to burrow, warmth is the main danger.
Logging is the input. The product is spotting when a single off reading becomes a pattern worth acting on.
16–21°C (60–70°F), never sustained above ~24°C
Warmth is the number-one killer; a hot spell without cooling is an emergency, not a niggle.
60–80% with damp (not waterlogged) substrate and a moist-to-dry gradient
Too dry dehydrates permeable amphibian skin; swampy-wet substrate risks skin infection.
A rounded but not bloated body
A steady climb means over-feeding; a real drop or sunken look needs a closer look.
Earthworm-led, a few appropriately-sized items every 2–3 days
Refusals often trace back to it being too warm, check temperature first.
Dechlorinated water only, in a shallow dish it can't drown in
Cloudy water or chemical exposure harms the skin it breathes through, keep it clean.
A natural cool-season slow-down is normal
baskr separates a normal winter dip from an off-season decline you should act on.
Safe to include
Avoid
Live plants and leaf litter help hold humidity and give cover, but the deep damp substrate and hides do most of the work.
Staples
Occasional / treats
Never feed
Supplements. Lightly dust food with calcium (and an occasional multivitamin); heavy supplementation matters less than with basking reptiles.
Good to know. A hearty carnivore prone to obesity, feed measured portions every 2–3 days for adults and skip if it's looking chunky. Handle as little as possible, and only with clean, wet hands, never dry or lotioned ones.
The right kind of kit, pick brands you trust.
Cooling, not heating
No basking or heat lamp; the priority is keeping the enclosure cool, a cool room, or fans and cooling in summer, matter more than any bulb.
Thermometer + hygrometer
Digital, to prove it's staying in the cool 16–21°C band and 60–80% humidity, warmth is the main risk.
Deep substrate
8–10 cm+ of moisture-holding, dig-able substrate for burrowing.
Water conditioner
Dechlorinator so the water dish and any mistings are safe for amphibian skin.
Shallow water dish
Low and stable, big enough to soak in but impossible to drown in.
Enclosure
A low, secure glass terrarium with a good lid and ventilation; salamanders climb silicone and escape surprisingly well.
Grounded in your own logs and the ideal ranges above, plain language, never a diagnosis.
Temperature has averaged 25°C this week, above the safe ceiling for a tiger salamander. Cool the room now, sustained warmth is dangerous for this species.
Substrate has trended dry and humidity is at 45%. Dampen the substrate and mist with dechlorinated water to protect its skin.
No feeding logged in 6 days. First check it isn't too warm, then offer an earthworm.
Enter your own readings for an instant care score, the same check baskr runs for you every day.
Enter a reading or two above to see Tiger Salamander's care score.
A quick guide, not a diagnosis. Ideal ranges vary with age, morph and setup, and individual animals differ, so confirm anything critical with an experienced keeper or a reptile vet.
Cool: about 16–21°C (60–70°F), and never sustained above roughly 24°C. They use no heat lamp. If your home is warm, the job is to cool the enclosure (a cool room or basement, fans, or summer cooling), not to add heat.
Mainly earthworms and nightcrawlers, plus gut-loaded crickets and the occasional other insect. They're greedy and prone to obesity, so feed measured portions every 2–3 days rather than free-feeding.
As little as possible. They're amphibians with delicate, permeable skin that absorbs oils and chemicals; if you must move one, use clean, wet hands and be brief. They're a watch-don't-hold pet.
A long time for their size, commonly 10–16 years and sometimes longer, so they're a real long-term commitment.
Log your tiger salamander's care in seconds and baskr does the watching. Free for your first 3 animals.
Start freeLast reviewed August 2026. General husbandry guidance, not veterinary advice, and ranges vary with age, morph, subspecies and setup. Confirm anything critical with an experienced keeper or an exotics vet.