help with young A. maculatum

well i accidentally raised this little guy from a larva in a ten gallon natural "pond style" outdoor fishtank (long story). i didnt even know he was alive still until i cleaned it, i had already released his sibling who transformed a week before him, but then he dissapeared until now. hes lived as an metamorphosized salamander in water for about a month during which he actually lived his days as a newt. again this was an accident because i was positive he must've died after not a sighting in a month. anyway i set up a tank for him now about an inch and a half of coconut fiber bedding, and then another inch of beaked moss. theres some live plants and ive been misting twice daily. he has a waterbowl. i have some questions about his tank and feeding.

• i spray the tank and make the moss wet but the cocofiber stays dry under the top layer. should i make the substrate moist all the way through?
• i need tips on how to get him to feed i know that for a few days he wont but i tried yesterday with a small mealie. i have access to slugs and tiny earthworms since for the next month its still summer here in ny. any tips on how to feed this bugger?
• lastly any tips in general about how to keep a spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). I have been doing research on it but some help from people with experience would be greatly appreciated!

thankyou in advance for any replies!

I keep my A. maculatum on moist coco fiber (you'll want it moist but not soaking wet). As for feeding, I hardly ever see mine eat since they like to come out at night. I tend to feed them small worms, crickets, and pill bugs right before lights out about every third day, however since yours is a juvenile I would probably feed him every other day. I hope this helps some.

Justin

It might take a while before he eats from your hand, but if you persist, you're more likely to have success.

In general, you can follow the care guidelines for the tiger salamander:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml

I'm not sure about the beak moss you are using, but many of us who keep fossorial sals use either coco-fiber, organic topsoil or a mix of both. You may want to increase the depth of coco-fiber to 4 inches or. The substrate should be moist but as Justin indicated, it shouldn't be wet. A good idea is to provide a moisture gradient with one end of your tank being a little drier than the other end and providing hides at both ends. Unless the environment where you have the sal's tank is very dry, misting twice a day seems a bit much. My coco-fiber tends to stay quite moist, requiring misting only once a week or so.

ok well i think i might fix his tank tomorrow. ill take out the moss just to moisten the cocofiber which isnt getting wet because of the moss. the moss is just a mixture of moss by zilla which is apparently good for salamanders. he hides in between the moss instead of the coconut shell i bought for him! ill only spray once a day since the moss does seem to be a little wet (i was misting so much to get the cocofiber wet). anyway suprise just now! he accepted a mini mealworm from my tongs! he crunched that bugger down-very loudly might i add. i added a few small worms and slugs yesterday into his tank just in case he was hungry but didnt see him eat them. but now i that i fed him a mealworm i am satisfied that he will accept food from me and as soon as i get everything right he'll be ok.
thank you everyone for your replies! i really appreciate it!

amkid247 said:

he accepted a mini mealworm from my tongs! he crunched that bugger down-very loudly might i add.

Click to expand...

One thing I'd just like to add is that mealworms aren't one of the best foods. They have hard shells that can cause impaction and sharp incisors that can harm the salamander if not removed prior to feeding. You can still offer things such as worms and slugs from the tongs in the same way though- you should get the same results.

Good Luck!

yeah, i realized that after. but that was all i had and i had to try. plus because the mealworm spazzed so much from the tongs i deliberately crushed the things head in the tongs to kill it and stop it from moving like crazy (deterring the salamander). i tried with a small cricket today, no luck. ill try tomorrow. worms arent availble to me right now :/

well after the cricket try lastnight i cut up a dugup earthworm from the garden. ate three pieces. they were of good size so im very happy! again thank you to everyone who responded to me.