Question about Fire Salamander Availability

Hey everyone. I was recently at a Reptile Show in New York State and by sheer luck stumbled upon a lone Fire Salamander at a table full of other more common herps. I quickly bought it since my boss and I had been on the look out for any for years now. We used to have several which we even managed to breed one time and they had been relatively easy to obtain and replace but within the past several years for some reason they are extremely rare in the pet trade here in the USA. Does anybody know why this is? Thanks.

I believe that in most of Europe fire salamanders are protected. I'm guessing you got a Salamandra salamandra because they seem to be seasonly coming out of Czech Republic. This is odd to me because here in US they are advertized as such,and when I googled it, I found out they are apparently protected by law under ordinance No.359/1992 sb. Most other fire sal's available today are CB because there are really no other way of obtaining them. I dont want to dwell on ethics but we all strugle with WC verses CB. If your Salamander is WC I would hope you are trying to breed it. Fire Salamanders are a long term comittment. People that are breeding them have a true love for these creatures and just wont sell them to anyone. I'm guessing this is why they are just not easily obtained.

I think your looking in th wrong places. I was at that show, the fires were WC adults. 2 other vendors had some. Last year in Jan, a guy was there selling CB ones. What time did you arrive at the show? Ifyou were later that would explain not seeing much. Some people here breed them and sell them . I think Michael Strom is breeding them and he is usually at the NY show selling CB Caudates. I think he was recovering from surgery and thats why he wasn't there. I'll be at the April NY show. I think Strom will be too. But yes fire salamanders are less common in the states but by no means rare for most.

Yeah you are looing in the wrong places. They are for sale on the internet and Mr Shromm has had babies in the past . But you'd have to ask him. I saw 3 for sale at the Reptile Show in Reading PA. to weeks ago for 40 each. Maybe I'll have to make that trip up to the NY show in April

I have seen them available on a number of lists right now. As well as Czech I have been told the also are coming out of Hungary and Russia. Hungary I am pretty sure of but please correct me if I'm wrong.
S. salamandra salamandra should be an easy species to establish in captivity but they are cheap WC compared with other Salamandra species. they are easy to get to breed. Raising all those little larvae is the time and money consuming chore.

Thanks guys. I arrived at that show later in the day and that was the only salamander I saw. Whenever I go I look really hard to find any caudates of interest. If there were others, let alone CB ones, I def would have seen them and taken advantage of the opportunity I assure you that. And yes I think i know who you are referring to. His business is called "Above average amphibians", right? I kept an eye out for him since I have seen him before at shows in the past but like you said, I didn't see him this time.

For the first poster. Trust me I know they are a commitment. My boss owns a business in NY state where we keep exotic animals, many of which are a lot more intensive than little caudates. Lots of them are rescues and such. We do live educational programs for schools and camps and such. Amongst our animals, fire salamanders are ones that we have successfully kept and bred in the past. We hope to start that again with this one.

monkeyfrogman28 said:

Some people here breed them and sell them . I think Michael Strom is breeding them and he is usually at the NY show selling CB Caudates. I think he was recovering from surgery and thats why he wasn't there. I'll be at the April NY show. I think Strom will be too. But yes fire salamanders are less common in the states but by no means rare for most.

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I breed and sell my own fire salamanders and have had some c.b. fire salamanders from friends in the past. The fastuosa and bernardezi sell pretty fast. I won't have any fire salamanders for sale in the near future. A couple of my females threw slugs this year. I'll have a stand at the April NY Metro show but probably won't have any fire salamanders there.

Thanks guys for the responses.

I arrived to that show later in the day and that was the only one I saw. Whenever I go to these things I always keep a sharp eye out for any caudates and trust me, if there were and CB ones available on a table there, I would have seen them. They must have been gone by the time I got there.

I have seen Michael at shows before. His business is called "above average amphibians" if I'm not mistaken. Last I saw him was at a Hamburg show.

To the first poster, yes we have every intention of breeding them and trust me we know what kind of a commitment they are. I should have been more specific about my boss and I in my first post. He owns a wildlife educational center. We do educational animal shows for schools and camps and such. We are no strangers to commitment when it comes to exotics. If we can breed and raise Armadillos and Binturongs, little caudates shouldn't be too tough for us. We have also kept fire salamanders and bred them in the past so no worries.

Thanks alot for the suggestions though guys. I'll def do what you said next time.

Hi,

there must be several fire salamander groups be around in the US as many European send over offspring of several (sub)-species. I hope at least some survived and multiplied.

As laws of importig get tighter I think this inflow dried up. So I hope the US herpers can satisfy their need by own off-spring instead of buying the WC ones.

See you

Uwe

stablefly said:

I have seen them available on a number of lists right now. As well as Czech I have been told the also are coming out of Hungary and Russia. Hungary I am pretty sure of but please correct me if I'm wrong.

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I know I'm a bit late, but I just signed up for the forum. If fire salamanders were from Hungary, they were smugged for sure as we have very strict laws on keeping native herps. Basically no one but zoos have a chance to get permission to harvest these species, so for "civilians" it's practically impossible to either collect or buy some (from foreign breeders) legally.

Hi, i live in the kansas city area and i can NOT seem to find ANY fire salamanders ANYWHERE. I've been to the reptile show, but there is nothing. and I've contacted many people to check if they have any. I just can simply not find one.