Hey all, I'm incredibly new to salamanders and should still be in the research stages of how to care for them since I'm trying to make a spotted salamander based paludarium as a senior project for school. At the moment, my 29 gallon paludarium is almost complete, and I've been trying to start cultures of blackworms, microworms, scuds, etc necessary to raise larvae from the eggs. Long story short, while trying to catch scuds and daphanie in a ditch by a wildlife walk, I ended up catching two smallish larvae. And, being stupid, I decided to bring them home.
So, I'm in a pickle. They're currently in about bare-bottomed container with 1/2 a gallon of the ditch water that I caught them from. The water is filled with tannins, so they're in a dark environment which I've placed in the basement so that they'll stay cool as well. They're maybe 2 inches (including tail); they've got little hind legs, gills, etc, but are water-bound, and have displayed no capabilities or desires to climb onto the little island I put in the middle. All I have to feed them are red wigglers. The blackworms are being shipped since no local bait stores or petstores carry them. If I chop the redworms up super tiny, would that suffice for the time being? They are quite skittish, so I don't think that they'd take any food from tweezers. Should I just chop the red worms up and leave them in the tank?
I feel like I should change out the water, or add more, but I don't want them to drown if they're getting closer to metamorphosis. I've got Prime as a dechlorinator; would this be sufficient, or would the chemicals be too harsh. Since it's been raining a lot, I have a large barrel of rain water that I could use if tap water isn't recommended. How many gallons should I keep them in?
What substrates would be acceptable for when they get moved to the paludarium? I've got organic topsoil for the terrestrial portion and the aquatic portion (it's going to be completely naturally planted, including the aquatic portion). Obviously on the terrestrial portion, I'll have moss covering the soil, but in the aquatic portion would pea gravel be okay as a topper? I remember reading somewhere that either gravel or sand is not safe for salamanders because they might swallow it while trying to eat, but I can't remember.
I've been searching the forums and reading the FAQs, so I *think* I've got most everything down, but pointers would be very much appreciated.
oops, I'm sorry. I posted this in the wrong section. Is there a way I can move this to the Newt and Salamander Help section?
So, I'm in a pickle. They're currently in about bare-bottomed container with 1/2 a gallon of the ditch water that I caught them from. The water is filled with tannins, so they're in a dark environment which I've placed in the basement so that they'll stay cool as well. They're maybe 2 inches (including tail); they've got little hind legs, gills, etc, but are water-bound, and have displayed no capabilities or desires to climb onto the little island I put in the middle. All I have to feed them are red wigglers. The blackworms are being shipped since no local bait stores or petstores carry them. If I chop the redworms up super tiny, would that suffice for the time being? They are quite skittish, so I don't think that they'd take any food from tweezers. Should I just chop the red worms up and leave them in the tank?
I feel like I should change out the water, or add more, but I don't want them to drown if they're getting closer to metamorphosis. I've got Prime as a dechlorinator; would this be sufficient, or would the chemicals be too harsh. Since it's been raining a lot, I have a large barrel of rain water that I could use if tap water isn't recommended. How many gallons should I keep them in?
What substrates would be acceptable for when they get moved to the paludarium? I've got organic topsoil for the terrestrial portion and the aquatic portion (it's going to be completely naturally planted, including the aquatic portion). Obviously on the terrestrial portion, I'll have moss covering the soil, but in the aquatic portion would pea gravel be okay as a topper? I remember reading somewhere that either gravel or sand is not safe for salamanders because they might swallow it while trying to eat, but I can't remember.
I've been searching the forums and reading the FAQs, so I *think* I've got most everything down, but pointers would be very much appreciated.
oops, I'm sorry. I posted this in the wrong section. Is there a way I can move this to the Newt and Salamander Help section?