Blue Spotted

I

ITHURTZ

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Late summer found in a pool skimmer. Thought I would give it a try. had it for about 3-3.5 months now, still alive so it has to be eating what I give it.


I put him in a 2 gallon hex for those 3 months then a few weeks ago set him up in this. Vid is of him just put in the new area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPTE40-UKD0

He was hanging out here for a week, but now I guess he moved and I have a idea where he went but not sure
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I got a couple plants on the way to help make it more "natural" so Ill post pics up whenever those plants come.
 
great looking salamander, I would suggest you make it a little dryer, it looks really wet, it only needs to be moist

otherwise you should have a lot of fun with this guy, my blue spotted sal is an amazing eater, and is really outgoing
 
Its wet around the perimeter because of the little drinking pond I have. The tank is covered in 2-3" of black gravel which I then put the eco-earth substrate on top. So naturally the gravel holds water and the eco just absorbs it. Its reallynot that bad though, one area is higher to be the driest and he has spent days in every location. He is currently right up in the rocks by the "river bed" and its pretty wet inside.

How often do you feed your salamander? I gave him 20 some crickets and about a week they were gone, no idea if they got out or he ate them. Id get more but I dont know if he needs a break or not
 
My blue gets a big chunk of worm every couple of days. He looks like a blue-spotted sausage.
 
I too would be concerned about the wetness of the substrate. Coco-fibre sucks up moisture like a sponge and with the bottom of the tank permanently wet it will never dry out. You also run the risk things turning stagnant as waste is trapped in the gravel layer with no ventilation (especially if you leave dead crickets in the water). You’re much better off with a soil/coco-fibre substrate, a shallow water dish and some hides. The substrate should be moist but not damp. Your sal will thank you for it in the long run.
 
Ya I lowered the water level already, I might have to look into that water dish and plan around it.

Do any of you guys use moon lights (like fish tanks) or any other kind of light at night? Iv never seen him eat or chase the food he just hides (naturally). If putting 1 moon light in the top corner not beaming down on him wouldnt bother him then I am all for it!
 
I don't even use a water dish for mine. I just mist one side of his tank.

I'm surprised you've never seen yours eat. Mine comes out and begs like a puppy the second I open the door to the salamander room. By far, it's the most outgoing salamander I have. In the wild, they're a little shy, but they warm right up to captivity.
 
When he was in the 2 gallon hex I put a nasty spider in there and I saw him eyeball it and go up for it but my attention went somewhere else. Mine always hides, thats why I wanna test out the moon lights so MAYBE I can see him walking around at night. Even now there are 25 crickets running around and he is hiding in the rocks and substrate ( you can see his tail in the last pic)

OK redid it a little bit. Plants are in, I hope they survive. The lighting is just your standard fish tank light tube, I figure 12hrs a day, you guys think thats ok?

The plants are a korean rock fern and Pilea spruceana

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Added more food, 25 crickets
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It looks like you could use some hides(the 2 peices of wood dosnt look big enough), he needs hides he can get his whole body in, maybe thats why he dosnt eat infront of you, he is possibly stressed
 
looks good. he/she's probably more shy than those owned by others since he was more recently taken from the wild. i have two that were raised from egg and they practically beg for food and eat from my hand. yours should take worms from your hand eventually. good luck
 
That would be cool if he did. Plants are doing great so far, what about watering, should I water once a week or when they start to droop? I also added some bark, naturally all the crickets ran under it haha. I wont get moss to grow on them yet, gotta see if these plants get growing then Ill get some moss!
 
He hasnt eating for about 4 days, so yesterday I saw him looking at me all day so I went to petsmart to get crickets. Saw they had wax worms so I picked some up to. I actually got him to eat from my hand!

I got a pic of him with a worm in his mouth.
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I have a vid, but its not the best because I was filming from the outside and apparently there wasnt enough light, even after making the vid brighter. Atleast y ou can see the worm thrashing in his mouth.

Ill post vid when y outube is done processing
 
Boy, it's like "Where's Waldo?" I had to look for a full minute before I found him!
 
Got bored, so heres 2 pics. Crickets eating out, and them hanging out on one of the plants. Plants seem to be doing good with 12hrs of lighting a day. I water about once a week or so.

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After he ate those 3 wax worms he went back in his hole and havent seen him since haha.
 
man my fern looks like ****. It has new sprouts comming off, but the foliage that was on when I got it is terrible looking. The aluminum plant is looking great though..
 
Well I stuck another 15watter on the tank to see if that helps "green" up the suzy wong. Other plant has taken off well. 2nd light REALLY light up the tank alot more so I guess we will see in a week if it really helps
 
Well that extra 15 watts of light seems to be working. Of course the aluminum plant is loving it tons of new leaves are comming. AS for the suzy wong, its growing better, but not dark green as it was when I first got it. I want to scrap it but its growing so who knows. A months time will tell how well its really going to do. I mist the tank 1-2 times a day
 
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