# MONSTER FROM THE OHIO RIVER



## bigdaddy998us

Well, My little brother went fishing yesterday and caught this wierd lizard/ snake/ fish looking creature.. Around here, he is called a mudd puppy.. I decided to put it in my 29 gallon.. Tell me what you think about him..


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## eiji

he's cute!!!


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## Willham187

Nice addition to yer tank. never heard of these "mudd puppies" b4 but they are kinda cool.


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## bigdaddy998us

thanx.. yeahh.. I was pretty surprised when I first saw him


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## CichlidAddict

He'd make a great snack for a RTC. heh heh..


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## Mettle

Do you intend to keep it?


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## joka711

strange lookin lil guy...i like him


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## mike123

does it have gills?


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## maddyfish

What does it eat?


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## bigdaddy998us

mike123 said:


> What does it eat?


well, he hasn't eaten yet, but he was caught on a shiner.. so I have some feeders in with him now for when he is hungry.. Im sure he will also eat night-crawlers.. as soon as he gets adjusted, I will deffiantely post a feeding video


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## ChilDawg

I think those neotenic salamanders are pretty cool...be sure to do some reading on their care. (Google ChilDawg and mudpuppy and see what comes up...I think there might be something.)


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## acestro

Moved

Great salamander there!

also a cool... is that an exasperatus cichlid?...

anyhow...


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## blazednosferatu

Thats way cool


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## flyboy

Be careful with the cichlid because they can nibble at the external gills of the mudpuppy.


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## bigdaddy998us

acestro said:


> Moved
> 
> Great salamander there!
> 
> also a cool... is that an exasperatus cichlid?...
> 
> anyhow...


thanx Ace.. its really cool looking.. Ive been looking up on care for it..

and I really dont know.. I bought it at me lfs for $3.00 .. can ne1 positavely ID it for me?


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## merks91

reminds me of an axolotl, one sec i'll try to find some info on them http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl look up feading stuffs on these guys cus your little friend probably eats similar stuff.


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## ChilDawg

You want to be careful because of two things:

1.) Despite their similarities in appearance, those two neotenic salamanders are not closely related.

2.) Wikipedia is not considered an academically reliable source because *anyone* can edit it. What happens if the information is placed there by someone who, for some idiotic reason, hates axolotls and the people who own them? My point is this--Wikipedia is to be taken with a grain of salt at best and using it as your sole source is not the most intelligent thing to do.

Caudata.org is a better source for info on salamanders: http://www.axolotl.org/feeding.htm is part of their family.

Now, that having been said, this was just a teachable moment and you're correct in saying that their diets are similar...I just want to make sure that you know that you can't always assume that similar morphology means similar diet.


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## dark FrOsT

thats a cool little guy, great addition to a tank


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## Leasure1

Don't they also need to have a ledge of some sort to be out of the water as well? I thought they did?


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## ChilDawg

Leasure1, according to Caudata.org, you're sort of right in saying that. I can't find any reference to them actually being out of the water, but they do like "cover objects" and "caves" for comfort's sake.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Necturus/N_maculosus.shtml

I would definitely worry about cichlids picking at the gills...is there a way to partition them until you get a new tank?


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## Geis

Realize this is an old thread but these muddogs make great bait for catching bass!


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## ChilDawg

They do, but with salamander (and other amphibian!) populations dwindling worldwide at such an alarming rate, I would advise using lures in amphibian shape rather than actual amphibians at this point.


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## Gear Wiz

Mudpuppies are completely aquatic amphibians (scientific name: Necturus maculosus) ranging from southern Quebec to Georgia and Louisiana.

Careful as the mudpuppy will eat anything that it is small enough to overpower. They mainly eat crayfish, but you can also feed them earthworms, blackworms, small fish, and tadpoles. Keep the aquarium dimly lit as they do not take kindly to bright light.

Have an underwater cave as they prefer to stay inside. Once comfortable, they will start to come out more often.

An important thing to note is that mudpuppies are sensitive to poor water conditions. Make sure the water is declorinated and filitered and keep regular water changes.

This may be a little late, but hopefully someone else can benefit from this information!


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## NeXuS

neat little thing


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## KILLERLEXUS

put him on a hook and catch yourself a nice largemouth for your tank,


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