Is my salamander/newt habitat ok?

K

kristin

Guest
Here is my small salamander or new habitat. I don’t currently have a salamander, but I’m trying to find one. As for the habitat, it may be a bit small, but it should be OK for a smaller-sized salamander. I added a little circle for one to climb through, and I will be adding more things to it, like a few large rocks for it to climb on. What do you think of it? Do you think it’s acceptable for a small salamander or newt? (I’m not sure what kind I will find.)

http://www.repticzone.net/images/42204/habitat1.JPG

(P.S. Sorry if the pic's not that great!!)
 
It should be acceptable for a tiger salamander or a species that is equally as hearty, however, keep in mind, that you should have a good amount of gravel or rocks for the salamander to climb from, any small salmander may drown in that pool you made.
 
Kristin you arn't looking for a salamander in the wild to keep are you? I belive this is illegal in your state.
 
Kristin,
What kind of soil did you use? If you used a standard potting mix that contained perlite then you have a potential problem with whatever you decide to house in there. In case you don't know, perlite is little white styrofoam like material that is used as a component of most major brands of potting mixes. It is great for plants but bad for live animals because it can be harmful, if not fatal, if swallowed.
Chip
 
Yes, I realized that, and I changed the potting soil to just plain dirt. Thanks anyway, though!
 
Do you have any pics of your salamander? >.>
 
Do you have any pics of your salamander?
 
i was about to state the same. that soil looks suspiciously like potting soil which is no good. you'd want to switch to a substrate of fertilizer-free topsoil or some cocofiber. The cocofiber you can find at petshops branded as ecoearth or bedabeast it sells for like $4-6 in a brick form that you add water to. i use a mix of cocofiber,leaflitter, and cypress mulch ontop of a packed "floor" of layered topsoil,charcoal, and sand. a pic of my setup can be seen here
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/7/79744.html

what are the dimensions of that tub? that'll help determine which species you can potentially keep. i agree on the water bowl looks like it may be hard for some smaller/youger species to climb out of
 
It is about 1 foot long and 8" wide, I know it's small, but I figured it would be ok for something small like a 4 toed or a red back.
 
As you already know, I changed it from potting soil to regular dirt. Also, I re-did it with a curved piece of bark, which acts as a tunnel, and I added some fairly small rocks (but not small enough to be swallowed) to the water bowl so that the salamander could get out. Do you think that's enough?
 
check the Species Database the info for redbacks mentions they never enter water. i find redbacks in my backyard and althought there are some large puddle areas i usually find them in leaf piles and under boards i have laid around to help collect bugs.
 
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