Found a Northwestern Juvenile Salamander - some help?

I have looked through the threads here and found some great info already. I'm just hoping for some extra advice and tips. I honestly couldn't find specific info for baby northwesterns, but if there's a thread I missed please link me.

I found this juvenile (?) salamander in my parade covered in dust and hairs and struggling. He's now in a tank with a vented lid. No other creatures.I bought newt and salamander food (probably useless for a wild salamander) and I've got frozen blood worms. I have him in a semi aquatic set up with gravel which also seems to be wrong...:He won't eat bloodworms so I'm thinking he needs live food..

Here is a link to some pics I posted on another site. I couldn't upload pics here using my phone. Maybe my wifi is too slow...

Pics here: I found this little creature in my parking garage. What is he?? - Imgur

Any tips for what I could feed this young guy? He seems too small for crickets... Small worms from the pet store? Ideal set up for northwestern juvenile? Is it necessary to hibernate him - a link on how when he's so young? And any other tips would be SO appreciated.

He's so cute. I want him to live a long time. (his name is George)

Additional info: I live in Coquitlam, BC in Canada.

Oh I just found this article http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml

which is GREAT! I don't think my pet store has fruit fly larva though... I will ask about grubs. Still hoping for advice.

Do you have petcos in Canada? In the USA, petco carries fruit fly containers. Fruit flies are for pretty tiny animals. How big the salamander? Crickets at a pet store should come in several sizes. I injure the legs to make them move slower so my salamanders can catch them easier.

He's about 3 inches. He's small. We don't have petco but I'm calling around trying to find small grubs or fruit flies without wings. I guess I will try small crickets if nothing else. I don't know if I can injure their legs myself... Thanks so much!


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That is not actually a northwester salamander ( Ambystoma gracile ), but rather a Oregon ensatina salamander (Ensatina eschscholtzii oregonensis ). You can tell by the constricted tail, light brown body, no poison glands or batteries. It looks like a adult male. A semi aquatic setup is not a good idea, this species doesn't live aquatically at all, they are fully terrestrial. Add some substrate, a hide ( rock, piece of wood, coconut shell plastic cup cut in half etc. ), and mist his setup every once in a while, maybe twice a week or so. You can feed him a large variety of foods, very small or chopped earthworms, fruit flies, woodlice, small slugs, bloodworms on occasion, springtails, and small crickets. Just make sure you don't put too many crickets in his setup at once, or they might bite him. Crickets and bloodworms shouldn't be fed as a staple diet, earthworms are best. Don't confuse mealworms or kingworms with earthworms, the former has a hard exoskeleton that is hard to digest. A one gallon plastic tub is all you need for space for these guys, but a ten gallon tank works too.
You don't need to hibernate them, but you can if you want, it just isn't essential. If you do, just let the temperature drop into the 40Ss ( F ) at night, with a rise into the 50s in the day. Just make a little hole in the substrate and put a PVC pipe in it, or build a hide into a hill in the enclosure. This will help simulate natural hibernation. Honestly though, he will probably remain somewhat active, my fire salamanders ( Salamandra salamandra terrestris ) are remaining active into the 40s.

Hope this helps, and if you need any additional info just post. :happy: -Seth

Wow! I read this at first and thought "Oregon? This person didn't read where I'm from..." Then, I looked the species up on Wikipedia. That's DEFINITELY what he is! Thank you so so much. People who don't know about salamanders keep telling me to hibernate him or he will die. It's scaring me... Anyway, he ate a small cricket last night. Super stoked. I will set up a terrestrial environment for him later today when I can get to the pet store. This forum is awesome - thanks so so much for your identification and advice.

Oh and here is a better pic of him (George). I will post a pic of his set up when I get it right. Looking forward to becoming a salamander enthusiast here haha.

MissManatee said:

Wow! I read this at first and thought "Oregon? This person didn't read where I'm from..." Then, I looked the species up on Wikipedia. That's DEFINITELY what he is! Thank you so so much. People who don't know about salamanders keep telling me to hibernate him or he will die. It's scaring me... Anyway, he ate a small cricket last night. Super stoked. I will set up a terrestrial environment for him later today when I can get to the pet store. This forum is awesome - thanks so so much for your identification and advice.

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Haha, yeah I know you aren't from Oregon, but this species lives from California all the way up to British Columbia.
I highly doubt he will die if you don't hibernate him. He should be fine either way. Good to hear he is eating. I am glad to help :happy:

MissManatee said:

Oh and here is a better pic of him (George). I will post a pic of his set up when I get it right. Looking forward to becoming a salamander enthusiast here haha.

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George is a nice looking ensatina.

I also have a Oregon ensatina. I feed mine small crickets and other insects. In the wild they eat termites, some spiders and some beetles. They do NOT eat worms.

Kauveh said:

I also have a Oregon ensatina. I feed mine small crickets and other insects. In the wild they eat termites, some spiders and some beetles. They do NOT eat worms.

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Do you have a reference that says they do not eat worms? I wouldn't be surprised if they ate the occasional hatchling worm. Besides that, there is nothing wrong with feeding them worms. You can chop worms into tiny pieces, whereas in the wild obviously that wouldn't happen. So basically you are giving them the opportunity to feed on a prey item that is typically to large for them to eat.
Besides that, worms are very nutritious. I highly doubt any harm at all would come if you fed them small pieces of worm. Also, if you feed yours crickets without problems ( which are both rare in the wild and sometimes too big in my experience ), than there is no way worms will cause problems. Just saying.

The one I have is wild but it does not eat any type of worm. I have tried feeding it to other ensatinas too. I have never gotten an ensatina to eat a worm.

Could you be feeding the wrong types of worms? Are they too big? Most amphibians reject worms called red wigglers or compost worms. Canadian nightcrawlers are a good staple. And they will probably be too big to eat normally, so you would have to chop up the worms first (the bits wiggle for a while afterwards)

And also, I believe George to be male. From the pictures you have, it would appear he has a shorter, boxier skull with two mini projections from them

I used Canadian night crawlers.

Cliygh and Mia said:

And also, I believe George to be male. From the pictures you have, it would appear he has a shorter, boxier skull with two mini projections from them

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Yes, that is a male. Males of this species have squarish snouts, and long slender tails. This species does not have cirri, if that is what you are referring to when you say "mini projections".

I will try to chop Canadian night crawlers even shorter and see if she eats them.