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Aneides aeneus

ali

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Hi you guys. When I came home from college for Thanksgiving break, I brought my newts with me since I have one that I'm medicating. This was the first time that my mom had seen them. She was pretty interested and told me about how she used to keep green salamanders that her father found in Mt. Lake in WV (where we live) when she was young. I looked them up on this site and found them to be aneides aeneus.

I am pretty interested in them since they are native to my home state. Do you know of any others that are native to my area? The site for aneides aeneus on this site had great photos, but no care information. Can they be treated like another salamander that I could read about on here? Does anyone keep these or know how to care for them? Have you ever seen them available for purchase?
 
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william

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from what i understand, like a lot of plethodontids, there just aren't any keepers, although there must be a couple for this species. If you have Frank Indivigilo's book, he put a good caresheet about them in there. From what i remember they like it very damp, with tight hiding places. That's all i can tell you about care.

as for sourcing, they probably aren't available captive bred. so you'd have to collect from the wild. If you do decide to get them, then check out your state laws first, and don't take to many animals from the wild.
 
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mark

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Aneides aeneus are protected in most of the states in which they occur. For this reason one must be careful and knowledgeable of the laws if they plan to collect this species. This animal is highly localized and is therefore susceptible to extirpation. My personal experiences having seen them in their natural setting would corroborate this assessment.

I have yet to hear of any accounts of captive breeding of this species of Aneides, however, this doesn't mean it hasn't occurred. Nevertheless it is not a common species in collections and what I have heard through the grapevine suggests this is not an easy species to care for.

William is correct in his statement that these salamanders like 'tight hiding places' (being found in small crevices and cracks in rocks) and really do seem to enjoy a large amount of tactile comfort. While I cannot comment on their preference towards moisture in captivity, I can say on the occasions I have found this species they tend to be in relatively dry recluses. Furthermore they seem to be quite photo-sensitive and quite uneasy when not shaded.
 

ali

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This is very interesting help, you guys. My newt and salamander collection and hobby is pretty much forced to stay where I have it right now (with three newts, and two different species) as I don't have much room in a dorm room!
However, when I move out in the next year or so I would like to expand my collection and will certainly look into my state laws. If possible, I am interested in this species. Maybe I will be able to successfully breed them in the future!
 
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russ

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I've kept this species in the past (unfortunately I can't currently keep them due to their status in GA) and I would say it's rather sensitive to conditions, especially when compared to the other Aneides species (and I've kept all of them at one time or another). I also found that some individuals, especially sub-adults, can be difficult to switch to crickets.

And yes they are protected in WV. But there are many other interesting caudates in your home state that you could choose to work with in time.
 

ali

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Thank you for your information, Russ. Do you know which species are native to my area?, or where I could find out? I would be even more interested in a more aquatic species.
 
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russ

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I believe there is a web-site with WV herps, try Googling it.
 
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edward

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In my experience this has been a hardy and undemanding species that lives for a long time. The only problem with it is due to its patchy distribution and small disjunct populations, requiring the benefits and risks of any collections be heavily weighed as removal of even a few animals could disrupt a population sufficiently to render it nonviable.

Ed
 
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