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Ambystoma maculatum

M

matt

Guest
Hi,

I'm looking to keep (breed???!) the yellow spotted salamander, which has suddenly appeared at a local petshop.

Two questions (one of which probably ought to be posted elsewhere)...

I'm planning a set-up in my cool room which will be one of those large storage bins used for kiddies toys. (John Clare posted a pciture of one used for juvenile fire sals.)But this will be a bit bigger. I plan to fill it with damp topsoil and leaf-litter to simulate Wetland forest floor... and lots of insects / worms.

Question 1... any criticisms of or feedback from this? For example, a quick search here trawled up a thread between someone who had bred them and JC. Besides giving them seasons (ie cooling)rain simulation was mentioned to stimulate breeding... how could this be done?! If I make drainage holes I'll just have a soup of substrate under the container won't I?

Question 2... I thought I'd replace some of the plastic sides and the lid with the fly screen mesh I love and have plugged here before, which will let some light in. So which plants, going off-topic a little, could I grow in my low-light slice of damp forest floor? Ferns?

Anyone any relevant experience or ideas?


Best//Matt
 
N

nate

Guest
Hi Matt. I'd like to say first that I know of no verified breedings of this species. With a little research and emails, claims of breeding turn out to be animals collected migrating to the breeding site or collected at the pond itself. Of course, the animals breed a few days to a few weeks later in captivity. I'm skeptical of "seasons and cooling" as a real method. Though it seems intuitive and sounds good, why has it never worked for any zoo or aquarium? It never worked for me either (or anyone else I know who has tried for that matter), and I had even had animals which had been collected as eggs to avoid pond imprinting. Ed Kowalski can probably go into more detail of the trials and tribulations of trying to breed maculatum.
crazy.gif


Otherwise, your setup sounds great to keep them alive and healthy. I wouldn't worry so much about plants unless you personally want them for aesthetic value. In the wild, spotteds are not living amid the moss and ferns, they are living several inches under it so all you really need to mimic their habitat is moist soil and leaf litter.
Good luck!
 
E

edward

Guest
It would be a long whiny post about all of the failures I had trying to get them to breed. The closest I ever got was ovulation in the females and circling behavior in the males (although not in the same year).
Ed
 
H

henk

Guest
Hai mole lovers (I am) : in Belgium the A. maculatum has been bred twice under captive con ditions so far, but ... both time this happened in outside enclosures.

I currently am still busy to raise 4 of the about 60 offspring animals that were available
Currently I have setup my own large tank (1 merter by 80 by 80 in order to try and breed them next year (I have a group of 6 animals).
 
N

nate

Guest
Hi Henk, a few people have done that here in the states also. I personally don't consider it captive breeding, but I know not everyone agrees with that position.
 
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