WC... any difference.

[Reece]

I have seen a couple of people say they stay away from WC animals. Just wondering if there is actualy a difference between say a WC salamander and a CB salamander Sub Adult? or if its just a preference for a CB? not sure where to post this so if its in the wrong place im sorry.

[SpiderGirl33]

I don't know about snakes or lizards, but whenever I've bought WC spiders, they have mites and usually a couple of injuries. I remember my sister bought a WC snake, she was told it was CB but it was riddled with mites, and died from internal parasites.
If you buy CB from a breeder you can get the history of the animal, if it's WC you don't know anything about it, it could be carrying all sorts of diseases, parasites or could be gravid.

Like I said, I don't really know about reptiles, but I hope I've been of some help.

[Reece]

oh i see, ok thanks alot for the reply. Is the only way to know if it has parasites or anything to take a crap sample to the vets to get it tested? Thanks alot.

[Elsa]

WC normally have physical problems, and may be more "wild" and harder to tame. they may be used to a different diet we can provide them with. a different climate. a much larger territory. they can get very stressed out and die or stop eating from the stress of all these changes. and the travel to get from the wild to you.
they also regularly many parasites and nasty things that can be passed to your current collection.

there are also ethical issues - is it sustainable to remove them from the wild when we CAN captive breed them. is it fair on the animal?

basically, IMO, CB is the only option, unless you buy a rare species WC and won't just keep it as a pet, but breed it to make sure less in the future have to be taken from the wild

not sure how much of that applies to salamanders, but thats a (my) general view

[Lizard Loft]

WC animals in my experience are alot skittier, stress very easily, some do tame down and become perfectly good pets, but these animals will have come over in packed crates, for 100's maybe even 1000's of miles, experiencing all sorts of temperature fluctuations, sounds etc, they will have likely been cramped into a crate with say around 10 other animals (same species) and most of which (7/10) will be dead and the others barely alive.

this migt sound like an extreme case but it happens on a regular basis, some of the videos i have seen are just horrible, and then finding out the people who put them in these conditions only get a small fine or less then a month in jail is the worst bit

Rant over phew! lol

[Reece]

Ok thanks alot. Just i have seen a couple of salamanders for sale, but they are all WC. i really want one and have done for a while but im worried about having a WC sub/adult male. i have got the right housing for it but dont want to get one for it to be ill or die within days / weeks. if i was to get one would the best bet to take a crap sample to the rep vet and let them test it? or just not buy the WC animal?

[STReptiles]

just dont buy wild caught unless you absolutely have to

[IanF94]

Yep, see if you check out Dartfrog, they might not all be CB but at least some are. I think the whole idea of keeping these animals is to Conserve them by taking the strain of the wild populations and buying WC won't help.

[Reece]

ok thanks. i just cant find any CB tiger salamanders thats the thing and i read somewhere that there isnt many breeders that actualy do breed these types of animals. so i guess WC is one of the only options for them. ive checked tons of rep websites and stuff and no luck.

[STReptiles]

ah i cant imagine salamanders being to bad but i wouldnt pay a high price for them if i was you.