Ambystoma opacum vs. Ambystoma maculatum

nursemelody

nursemelody

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Melody
I have read care sheets on both of these species, and am thinking of acquiring one or the other.. I keep eastern newts, and firebelly newts, but am interested in a more terrestrial salamander....I just wanted to know from those who have kept either, from personal experience, the pros and cons of these two species. Thanks!
 
I have recently got a group of Ambystoma opacum. They are very pretty little things, but boy are they timid. I very rarely see them out , and if they are, and see me they will sprint for cover!
 
Marbled and spotted salamanders will both be very shy. If you're looking for a more outgoing terrestrial species, think about tiger salamanders.
 
A.maculatum is less shy in my experience. Especially as they get older. have raised a few from egg and they tend to be less timid as they get bigger. I have also kept A. opacum and they really are fossorial. They will dig in and not come out for months.
 
Any of the Ambystoma species will be secretive. Although some A. laterale tend to become bold and tame up quite a bit after some time in captivity. If you don't mind this fact then choosing between the 2 species you listed really boils down to which one you like the looks of the best. The care and diet are the same for either one.

If you're wanting a more visible salamander then one of the Salamandra species may be a better option.
 
I have an A. maculatum, she spends her life in her cave and never comes out. The only time she did was last summer when the temperature in my house got too high for her (AC was out). I placed her back in her cave and placed ice packs above to keep her cool. Worked very well.
She hides in the back of her cave during the day, at night she shows her face near the entrance and waits for a possible dinner. I had her for nearly a year, I witnessed her feeding just once, I know she eats well though. The set up is a forest like 50G where isopods, snails, worms and slugs keep breeding... so she eats whatever she feels like. The set up is as natural as I can make it, (once I get more of these salamanders), I hope one day to breed them, I will add a pool to the set-up.
Super shy they are.... definitely not the kind of salamander you see wondering outside and smiling at you....
 
It looks like A. laterale is difficult to find?

Now the fire salamanders certainly look intriguing, but it looks like they need it to be 68 degrees or cooler? That would be VERY difficult living in southern Florida :(


So I am getting a general consensus that maculatum is slightly less shy than opacum.. but they are both pretty shy?
 
nursemelody said:
So I am getting a general consensus that maculatum is slightly less shy than opacum.. but they are both pretty shy?
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Yes, that is 'generally' the case. In my experience, tigers are the least shy followed by blue spotted within the ambystoma species.
 
I've looked in google, our classifieds, kingsnakes' classifieds...but I can't seem to find anyone who breed or sells blue-spotted? Does anyone know where I could get one?
 
I agree with the others. Both species are very shy, but A. opacum are more so. I worked with a trio of A. maculatum who would at least stick their heads out to take a wigging cricket from my fingers, but the opacum would almost always be hiding.
 
Blue-spotteds (and almost all other Ambystomatids) aren't bred in captivity. Most people collect their own.
 
nursemelody said:
I've looked in google, our classifieds, kingsnakes' classifieds...but I can't seem to find anyone who breed or sells blue-spotted? Does anyone know where I could get one?
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You want find anyone breeding them.........yet. ;)

You won't see them hitting the market for another few months since they are collected, for the most part, during their migration.
 
So I would be more likely to see blue-spotted salamanders in the classifieds around March or so?
 
You won't find them here at all. We do not allow the sale of wild-caught animals.
 
<SIGH> So I would have to probably find one in the wild, or buy one from someone outside of caudata.org? Is it considered by caudata.org bad to keep or buy wild caught animals as pets?
 
We don't allow the sale of wildcaught animals for multiple reasons. We don't like to perpetuate the cycle. We would love to see everything offered in the pet trade as captive bred, and wild animals left wild.

And often, those who do offer wild animals offer dozens or hundreds at a time that they have ripped from a breeding pond, creating a huge loss in a breeding population. So we do all that we can to perpetuate a sustainable hobby by allowing only healthy, captive bred animals.
 
Well, you live in S. Florida. You may be able to find a bait shop that has Tiger sal larvae. It is unfortunate that you would need to go that route, but there it is. If you go to the Kingsnake.com classifieds, you may be able to find captive bred Ambystoma as well.

There are ways of getting them to be more visible, even while they are secretive. There are substrates, basically a sort of clay that you can use as a base substrate, and construct holes out of that are in contact with the walls of a tank, so they are somewhat visible, even while they have a hiding spot. You can cover over the part of the tank where those are with red plastic film. They wont think they are visible, while you can see them.

Over the clay, you can put some soil, leaf litter, live plants etc.
 
I would be highly suspicious of anyone who says they have captive bred Ambystomatids, other than axolotls.
 
Kaysie said:
I would be highly suspicious of anyone who says they have captive bred Ambystomatids, other than axolotls.
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So would I, but they do exist. There is bound to be someone with an unhealthy obsession with ambystomatids who breeds them (probably neotenic adults) and finds that he has a few hundred offspring and cannot keep them all. I would certainly not go that route and not ask a few pointed questions like "Did you breed terrestrial adults, or neotenics?" and a few other such things. Still, it is possible.

It may well be easier to find a depression in a forest in the early early spring and then wait for it to rain, but still.
 
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