New Owner need some help!!!

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luvmypitties

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I was given a pair of Spotted Salamanders today (only know the tyoe from looking online!) I am not sure how to care for them. They are in a moist paper towel right now. I am not sure how to set up their tank, what temp to keep them at, what food to feed them or anything of the such! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
 
luvmypitties said:
I was given a pair of Spotted Salamanders today (only know the tyoe from looking online!) I am not sure how to care for them. They are in a moist paper towel right now. I am not sure how to set up their tank, what temp to keep them at, what food to feed them or anything of the such! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
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Start with these links:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml
You can follow the care offered for tigers...for spotted sals.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups3.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/worms2.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/faq/FAQhou.shtml
 
luvmypitties said:
Thank you for the sites. They were very informative! I hope to set something up for them soon!
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After reviewing this information, if there are specific questions you have, please ask.

Good luck with your new animals.
 
Also how do I get them to eat? I tried taking some bloodworms in a pair of tweezers and put it in front of them and they were not interested. am I feeding them the right thing? Am I going about it wrong?

Also their size is only about 2 inches long. They are tiny little things compared to some of the pictures I have seen of them.
 
I have a spotted salamander too. Mine is about 5.5 inches long though. I feed him pin-head crickets. If you get those, your 2 inchers might be able to manage them. They are definatley easier than hand feeding (especially with how skiddish spotteds sals are!). Also, as for the substrate, I use forest floor bedding by zoo med. I mist it once per day to keep it moist and humid. I hope this helps a little bit!:D
 
how do you keep it humid? I am going to be getting a 10 gal fish tank to use for them. I dont have anything for them right now so they are in a rubbermaid thing with unbleached paper towels that were moistened. I also put a lid on them (with breathing holes of course, none big enough for them to fit through) They also have a little dish for water. I used bottled water, non chlorinated. I want to have a nice tank for them. are they pretty hardy buggers? I am so worried about killing them. And you think they will be able to eat the tiniest crickets I can find? My spotted ones seem pretty outgoing to me, they move all around and are quite active even when I am watching them!
 
It stays humid in the tank because my tank has a hood-lamp. That retains some moisture, but it isn't neccessary. As for the set-up, a 10 gallon seems fine. Mine is set-up like a woodland environment. I put a piece of cork bark in my setup that my salamander burrows under during the day. At night he comes out and crawls around the entrance. Also I planted some types of woodland fern that do alright in the tank. I also have a small water dish just in case. In my opinion, they are fairly hardy. As long as you don't put any sort of toxin in the tank or let the tank get too dry, they should do fine in a room temperature environment. It can be hard when they are still tiny like yours are though. I love spotted sals, they really have personality (when they show it at least!):D
 
I was reading that they like it dark, so is it ok to have a hood lamp on the tank? I also have a heat lamp but I read they are supposed to be kept cool. So I cant really use that. I plan on having a topsoil substrate with bark pieces in there (but not sure how to pick out good healthy bark from trees outside) and also some leaf litter. I will also get some kind of cave for them to hide in. they love their paper towel cave for now!

Is it ok to handle them? or is the oils on our skin bad for them?
 
Being nocturnal, it is true that they like it dark. The hoodlamp is only on during a small part of the day to keep the plants healthy. You are right that a heat lamp is bad, it might fry them. If you are going to use topsoil, check to make sure it is safe to use for them (no pestecides etc.). Your set-up sounds like it will be terrific! As for holding them, I would try to keep it to a minimum. Not only does mine not particularly enjoy it, but you are right in that our oils are bad for them. As long as you wash your hands before and after holding them, you should be fine. Mole salamanders are a little less sensitive to handling than lungless salamanders.:cool:
 
I apologize for all the questions....

What kind of plants would be good to have in a small tank like a 10 gallon? And that would be healthy for the salamanders? And what is the difference between a mole salamander and a lungless one? Which do i have?
 
If you use a mix of coco fiber and soil, this will facilitate burrowing. Good plants include Pothos Ivy (which is basically indestructible) is a good plant.

Mole salamanders are salamanders belonging to the Ambystomatid family, which have lungs. These are called mole salamanders because of their burrowing nature. Lungless salamanders belong to the Plethodontid family, and are fairly similar as far as care.

You have a spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum.
 
Also make sure if you use crickets not to leave any extras in there that they won't eat. They can bite the sals and cause injury which can lead to death.
 
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How long do I give them to eat the crickets? And I am good feeding that for their first meal or should I do some kind of worm? I am not big on cutting things up.

And where can I buy the plants at?
 
Because the salamanders are nocturnal, I feed mine crickets in the evening and leave them over night, then any left in the morning are removed. For a first time, I would probably only get maybe 10 crickets or so. In my opinion, live food works best seeing as terrestrial salamanders are almost entirely movement driven. I bought my plants at a nearby nursery, but I am sure any garden center near you should be O.K. Ivy is good, moss is also nice for the set-up. Any plant that doesn't mind shade should be fine.:D
 
Cutting worms gets easier with time. A good sharp knife helps too.
 
Regarding plants, I would recommend against buying any. Mass produced plants may have been treated with all sorts of pesticides. Instead, I would recommend getting cuttings from your friends or neighbors (it's the kind of thing you could probably get by asking on freecycle.org, for example). Some good plants that start easily from cuttings are ivy, pothos, philodendron, aluminum plant, arrowhead plant, etc. See:
http://www.caudata.org/people/JM/plants.html
Since the animals came from outdoors locally, it would also be OK to use moss or other plants from shady outdoor locations locally.
 
luvmypitties said:
How long do I give them to eat the crickets? And I am good feeding that for their first meal or should I do some kind of worm? I am not big on cutting things up.

And where can I buy the plants at?
Click to expand...
Unless you really desire live plants, you may also consider fake plants. That is what I have resigned to ...to avoid the hassle, avoid potting mixes/chemicals that tend to be in purchased plants and in my case, tigers digging up the plants. I clean the fake plants every 6 weeks when I change the substrate. When I did use live plants, I had better success with using small pots buried in the substrate...which prevented the plants from being uprooted via digging.
 
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