Some questions about the maintenance of captive caudata

Hello everyone,
I'm developing a project in which I would like to talk about the history of our activity, as well as speak about those who practice it.
To this I would like to fulfill both a few questions and then that and refer to a site where I can investigate these matters!
1st In what year or years began maintenance of caudata captive in your countries?
2nd What was the person who started?
3 What will the average age and who oprat in your country or around the world?
4th What professions of those who practice it?
5 th What are the most popular animals and the more kept?
6th Someone knows more curious about this activity?
For now all! :happy:
Thanks for your answers!

I do not know for certain when the keeping of caudates first started in the United States. I would certainly say the hobby is by no means popular here. For instance, in the part of the country I live in (Nebraska) caudate keeping is so uncommon as to be considered a very strange hobby by most people! (As an example of this, I personally have a more varied caudate collection than our zoo! Believe me when I say, I have a small collection.)

As for the average age of keepers, most are adults. Actual age varies quite a lot, though it appears to me the more enthusiastic keepers tend to be around thirty years of age or older. As for professions, it appears to me that among hobbyists we come from many different fields and specialties. After talking with different members here and reading their blogs and profiles, we have quite few actual scientists and zookeepers here in the Caudata.org community.We also have quite a few veterinarians.

There are many of us that are not professionals in the biological fields. I know we have quite a few students, a few computer experts and even a few folks that work in various medical professions. Personally, I am an industrial electronics technician and a steam power engineer. (That is a fancy way of saying I get really dirty fixing just about any type of machine you can think of!)

As for what are the most popular animals kept nationwide, I would say Cynops pyrrhogaster is probably the species most commonly kept.That species is the most commonly available here in stores. Ambystoma mexicanum (axolotls) and Ambystoma tigrinum are probably the next most common. For many years Taricha granulosa was very popular as they were once very common in pet shops in the Eastern United States.

Hello SludgeMunkey,
are interesting your answers! There is only one point at which your country coincides with mine, that is the question of the profession, is exactly the same. The remainder is almost all different! The average age of hobbyists is twenties. I have thirty-one years I am the oldest! And the most popular animals that also are sold in stores are P.labiatus the C.orientalis and also interestingly the Ambystoma mexicanum, here we have another similarity.
Oh I remembered now, our only zoo that I recall they even have a newt or salamander, it is terrible! Only reptiles! I'm not going there for about seven years, maybe now they do not know!
It is curious that exchange of realities!
Come on people, and then in your country, how things are, there is nothing going on down there!?

Interesting.

Actually, now to think....I wonder the whole history of this hobby? Certainly it is somewhat related to both the history of the aquarium and that of herpetoculture...but at what point did it spring off and become its own indentity? Could it possibily have much to do with this site?(I'd bet so!)

The most common newts sold are indeed Cynops orientalis and Pachytriton labiatus. Occasionally Paramesotriton and Tylototriton(the latter seldom in good condition) show up at pet stores.

It would be difficult to determine which species are most commonly kept by true hobbyists as opposed to people with fish tanks and newts. The USCR might help.

Hello,
so I've been able to observe and verify think this hobby will take about 20 years or so. And that has begun for lovers of fish began to use their other aquarium, to the commencement of maintenance caudata!
I'll do a more intensive research to determine data and numbers!
Tanks

I do not have anything more than anecdotal evidence, but I think keeping caudates as a hobby is much older than a mere 20 years.

Maybe as we know it, but through my work here in Nottingham (Documentalist for the Museum Service) and also by talking with my grand dad back in France when he was alive (he was an amateur Entomologist and a GP, specialised in childhood asthma, worked a lot on acarians... and an old school naturalist) I have a hunch that keeping a tank full of the local caudates was something that many naturalists used to do.

David Attenbourough has explained in interview that he used to keep and breed fire sals... and I started keeping local caudates as a lad back in Dordogne in the 80's after reading Gerald Durrell writing about keeping Spanish Ribbed Newts. Back at Nottingham Museum a lot of the old school (Taxidermist and Natural Histroy Curators that started their professional life in the 50s/60s) kept a wide array of animals, including caudates, most often Alpine Newts and or Marbled Newt in outdoor enclosures.

As I see it, the hobby is more of an evolution from the Victorian Naturalist that used to collect and breed the local wildlife to study it. Another clue is the fact that many of the field guides I read as a lad had a chapter about keeping animal in captivity.

Hello aramcheck,
this is your story fascinating, largely for those who only know what is caudata, technically speaking, there are half a dozen months!
Rezume a little concerned when you started the hobby. It is clear that the situation is similar with the creation of birds. So who was the first man to put a bird in the cage? Maybe it happened for thousands of years, but this would only gain contours of the hobby about a hundred years. Or is the keeping of newts can now happen a long time, but the lines we know today, there is only a few decades, is not it?
thanks

Not wanting in any way be boring, I found it very helpful if any of you get me mention a site or article that would somehow justify what has already been said!
Already thank you for everything! :happy: