Fire Sals Burrowing! Is this Normal?

E

elliot

Guest
I bought some S.S Terrestris a few months ago. Recently for seemingly no apparent reason they have started burrowing in the substrate. They never dig very far down, but sometimes they disappear for days. I know that burrowing is common in some species of sal, but I have never heard of it in Fire Salamanders (though that may be because I lack experience). Is this normal behavior?

I think it may have something to do with temperature as they sometimes (but not always) come out when I put a cooling pack next to their tank, but the digital thermometer which I have in a set up nearby says the temperature rarely gets above 22C (usually 19-21C) in the room their in, which is the temperature they've been kept at since I got them back in September.

Another change I made recently was that I made their water bowl smaller (as the other was way too big and they never used it) and this might have decreased humidity)

Despite this development they are still eating well and do not appear stressed.

Despite this I'm getting quite worried about them as their one of my favourite species in my small collection, and I don't want to mistreat them. Should I raise humidity, lower temperature, or both? Or is this just normal spring behavior? Please Help!!!
 
Elliot,

It has been my experience that most all healthy salamanders will burrow if given the chance...I wouldn't worry about a thing.
 
mine aswell. They usually search for shelter and try to hide. If you dont have any caves of logs in your tank for them to hide under, earth is an alternative.
 
one other reason could be of the high temperature. salamanders of tend to burrow in order to escape a dry and/or hot surface. and you said that they emerge as soon as you keep a cooler nearby. so try to lower the temperature, my salamanders have always thrived in 15-18 celcius. but bear in mind that almost all salamanders burrow, there are thousands of reasons of why your salamanders are burrowing. i hope this helped you a bit :)
 
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