Question: Help identify this little guy

hello everyone,

I found this little guy in the backyard after a recent rain. Last time I found a salamander in the area was over 10 years ago so they are not very common. I live in Lomita, California. It is about 20 minutes south of Los Angeles and nearby Palos Verdes peninsula which has a lot of wildlife, some of which makes its way down here. Too far for a salamander to go though.

There is no bodies of water nearby.. but maybe a small fabricated pond in a neighbor's yard. So I believe the little guy to be terrestrial.

He is about 3 1/2 inches long and I put him in a small critter carrier with mud from where I found him and moss.

My son LOVES him and wanted to know if he could keep him for a while. We have done this with alligator lizards in the past and have fed them and set them up nicely and then released them after a month or so. What would this little guy eat?

Thanks for any help.

Where I live in Ontario we see Salamanders who look somewhat like that, they're simply called Red back Salamander, I also know there's many kinds of Red-backs, maybe that is another variant?

Here's a picture from the Internet of the ones we find up here.

looks like a red-back, with a strangely light coloration combined with the camera flash

Check out California Salamanders and see what matches your species. I'm thinking it'll be in the genus Batrachoseps, or Slender Salamanders. What a neat find!

I think it may be a species of Plethodon. Of the four Plethodon species that live near you I think it looks like Plethodon elongatus (Del Norte Salamander), however it might be the Scott's Bar salamander too, but I'm not great at identifying California herps.

As far as keeping him for a while, I would suggest letting it go. It may not do well in captive conditions unless you can keep it cool, with an appropriate setup and springtails and little earthworms to eat. Without ample living conditions, keeping it may stress the animal.

Hope that helps,

-Cameron

thanks for the info everyone. I will most likely let him go this weekend. So far though he seems to be doing well, moving about calmly. I threw in some small earthworms and will be looking for some small critters to see if he will eat.

After reviewing Cassie's post, that face screams Batrachoseps. New to me! I'm so uncultured. East coast born and raised. Good eye Cassie.

ok update. my son asked if we could keep the little guy a couple days and I thought we would release him after the weekend. Tried feeding him some small worms.. nothing. Cut up a piece of worm.. nothing. Put in a small pill bug, Didn't expect anything from that but my son insisted. Again, nothing. So as a last resort before letting him go I threw in a fruit fly. His head perked up. Moved towards it a little and then waited. I thought great another fail... I will release him later today. Then it happened. The fruit fly got closer and then the tongue flung out. I was I didn't think it would use it's tongue, nor that it would have shot out as far as it did. I figured it would give a quick head lunge and get the fly. Now I may be a bit exagerating, but it looked like it went out almost twice the length of it's head. Since then he has been happily feeding on them and has even gotten a little "healthier" looking. More fuller. Not fat, just more substantial.

So now I am a little more inclinded to try and house him. As before I have him in a critter carrier with mud and moss. Mist once a day. Cool temps. But I would like to do better than that. Any suggestions? I have seen some nice terrestrail set ups and have been looking around my backyard for where I think it came from so I can set it up closer to that. Bit honestly.. my backyard doesn't look like it would be a good place for a salemander.

Get some organic dirt, pile up some bark in the corner, and voila! Instant salamander habitat!

Glad you got the little dude to eat. Now it's time to start culturing fruit flies. Mmmmmm fruit fly media!

It's a plethodontid.

It's not Ensatina.
It's not Aneides lugubris.
Plethodon are only known from the northwesternmost four counties of California. You won't find one in LA County naturally, and this animal is too slender and elongate for a Plethodon anyway.
Batrachoseps are often hard to identify, but they mostly have very small ranges with litte overlap. Only B.major and B.nigriventris are known from the area. The dorsal color is consistant with B.nigriventris.

Petranka, J.W., 1998. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.
Multiple authors, 2005. Species Accounts; Caudata; Plethodontidae. In Lannoo, M., Ed. Amphibian Declines. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.

That is Batrachoseps.

Slender Salamanders.

I agree, either nigriventris or major.

Batrachoseps tend to be difficult to identify visually. location is the best identifier but DNA analysis is often the only thing that can determine with certainty between species.

B. major is more robust with more developed limbs and feet and a more "set off" head.
B. nigriventris is more slender with poorly developed limbs and a head that is the same width as the body.

B. major is a larger species but size isn't a very helpful identifier as you might have an unusually large adult nigriventris or a juvenile major....



Based on your photos, and the head and limb shape and size.... I'd say that what you have is Batrachoseps major.

If you keep it, I'd recommend finding a source for pinhead crickets, in addition to fruit flies. In either case, don't forget to dust with calcium and vitamins every few feedings.