Thinking of a new setup.

[Rodrigo]

Lately, i´ve been thinking my group of P.glutinosus might need a change of setup.
The thing is, i now have them in a woodland type of terrarium, they seem to really like it, but it´s sometimes quite complicated to find them and feed them. These little buggers love digging and it´s sometimes a mess. Feeding is specially complicated because i sometimes need to dig them up or disturb them in order to actually see them, so when i offer food, they are too stressed and ignore food. This doesn´t always happen of course, they actually look really nice and healthy, it´s more a matter of convenience.
So i was thinking about trying something more simplistic. I´m not sure if for example a moist paper towel floor with some stocked rocks and pieces of bark would be suitable though.
Anyone keeping this species in a simple/quarantine type terrarium????
All comments will be apreciated :)

[eljorgo]

in terms of feeding i´t will be very much easier but in terms of decoration it becomes realy fake

[Cameron Cheri]

I had this problem every once and a while when I raised these guys in Georgia. They always dug into the dirt. The only way for me to make sure they were eating was to uncover the rocks,cork barks, or substrate they were under and drop a worm next to them. I think it would be a little stressful on them if they didn't have a good substrate to dig in. Mine usually came out from where they were hiding at night and wandered around their tank, so that is when I usually fed them.

Hope this helps
Cameron

[Rodrigo]

Thanx.
I realize the lack of substrate to dig in might stress them. It´s just......it´s so messy xDD
As you said, mine also come out at night(specially if i just mist the tank), but sometimes one of them will remain invisible for over two weeks, and that´s when i panic and start digging. However, i think the reason they sometimes seem to have disappeared is because they are simply not hungry. But you know...i worry a lot xD
In the Caudata Culture species sheet, it mentions people keeping them on kitchen paper, but i just wanted to know first hand if someone was doing it. It seems to me you are right though, and the possibility of digging is rather necessary (judging by the tunnels they make hehe).

[taherman]

Food will probably wander into their burrows as well. I would say they are better off leaving them in a more natural setup.

Though slimy salamanders can be kept for many years on damp paper towels, you will never breed them that way, and you will be consistently stressing them with daily to weekly substrate changes. Ammonia levels are sky high after a day or two on paper towels with decomposing feces and uneaten food items.

Paper towels are a decent way to quarantine animals if you want to closely monitor their feeding and collect fecal samples, but in the long term it is extremely labor intensive and not the best thing for the animals (or trees) in my opinion. You could try damp pine bark nuggets with terra cotta dishes for hides, which is a reasonable compromise between the two methods. Tipping up a terra cotta dish is much easier and less destructive than excavating a burrow. You can peek in the opening with small flashlight too.

-Tim