New Salamandra keeper

I just recently became a S.s. salamandra owner. I had always wanted one, but I was younger and never had any desire to set up appropriate conditions, diet, temps, etc. I went to my first reptile show about a week ago with one in mind and found a healthy and active little guy. He's my first and is my most active and entertaining pet! I've learned much from this forum and he is doing very well. I hope to get him some company at the next show (I've only seen them in pet stores once, and I don't really trust pet stores to begin with).

As a new owner, I do have one question. How large should the water bowl be? It is big enough for him to soak in, but thats about it. It is not deep enough for him to submerge (don't want him drowning), and it is a naturalistic bowl with a "rocky" ramp in and out of it. He could do little more than fit his body in it. Is that too small? I didn't want anything too big that he might drown in.

If it is enough he can get wet, its plenty big enough! However, with S. salamandra a dish is not usually needed with a proper damp substrate, like coconut fiber.

More information here:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Salamandra/Salamandra_sp.shtml

Thank you. He doesn't really go in it too much, usually will just run through it while making his rounds, so the substrate must be moist enough for him.