manderkeeper
New member
Here in the US I am seeing a lot of ads for field collected "Russian" Fire salamanders. I do not have a good text on fire salamanders, does anyone know what subspecies these would be? I purchased a small group of them.
Hi Flavius,
Here are some extracts from The Amphibians of the Former Soviet Union...S.L.Kuzmin (1999)
"In the USSR Salamandra salamandra is certainly known only from the mountains and foothills of the Ukrainian Carpathians,between 150-1600m above sea level.The variability of Ukraine salamandra populations is poorly known.
They prefer micro-habitats covered with dense leaf litter and moss,as in the pristine forests of the Carpathians.Temperature under the substrate may be only +12-+15C,when temperatures on the surface are +25C.
Larvae found in small,stone covered streams,with summer water temps.of +10-+18C,with a pH ca.7.2.
Adults tolerant of low temperatures, retaining ability to move even near 0 degrees C.Upper lethal temps +30C or more.Adults active at +9-+26C,relative humidity of 65-95%.
Group hibernation is typical.Near hot water springs they may congregate in their hundreds.
Mating generally from April-September.Development is completed by late autumn,females hibernate with larvae in their oviducts,and leave their hibernacula in the spring to give birth in brooks,(12-30, maximum 70 individuals)
Maturing in 3rd or 4th years,female TL of 140mm,males 120mm.In captivity lives up to 18 years.
In the 1990s it was subject to commercial trade for terrarium keepers.It is in the Red Data Book of Ukraine,and lives in one nature reserve!
My animals are very robust and breed annually.
Yes, these are field collected but they are in pretty good shape. In many discussions with wildlife biologists they have assured me that field collection does not really hurt herp populations. They are too cryptic to ever have enough collected to really hurt the population and the demand is too low. Big game hunting is something really different than collecting some salamanders.
I usually don't buy WC animals
most of the newts and salamanders I've had before (tiger salamanders and firebelly newts)....[]....some firebellys that were in bad shape and very skinny
Like i said, this is a gross generalization. It holds true for certain species, certain populations and certain collection modalities (not all forms of collection are remotely the same). It doesn't hold true for every one of them. In the case of these salamanders you have no idea what their population status is in the collection sites, how often and in what numbers they are collected (hint, these are imported in significant numbers and it's not a one off). To assume that everything is fine because some other species is capable of enduring sustainable exploitation does not follow at all.Yes, a biologist and a University professor both told me that field collection is obtain blamed unfairly, but if the habitat is in good shape it is not easy to overcollect. The reason is you rarely find an entire population at once even if it seems like a lot of animals to us. Certainly, slow maturing and long lived species are more at risk, but even with bounties on timber rattlesnakes here in the NE USA, they were only wiped out from a few areas. Since then fragmentation, roads, habitat destruction, and now disease has done a much better job of extirpating them
Not to fear Rodrigo, I usually don't buy WC animals and I may wish I had not purchased these! They are a little lethargic and I get the feeling something is not quite right with them. Granted I've never kept this species before, but most of the newts and salamanders I've had before (tiger salamanders and firebelly newts) ate right off the bat. Even some firebellys that were in bad shape and very skinny ate once I put them in individual shoeboxes for a couple of days. These guys don't seem very interested, but I am going to give the stress of shipping as a possible chance and give them some more time. It seems it should be warm enough to eat, 58F.
Yes, a biologist and a University professor both told me that field collection is obtain blamed unfairly, but if the habitat is in good shape it is not easy to overcollect. The reason is you rarely find an entire population at once even if it seems like a lot of animals to us. Certainly, slow maturing and long lived species are more at risk, but even with bounties on timber rattlesnakes here in the NE USA, they were only wiped out from a few areas. Since then fragmentation, roads, habitat destruction, and now disease has done a much better job of extirpating them
I actually don't see many CB fire salamanders for sale in US. Maybe every now and again but as a rule I haven't seen many. I do see one subspecies with some red splotches, forgot which one, but I don't find them attractive. I'm hoping that I can find some LTC or CB examples before I make any further additions though,