What do I do?

I have recently rescued a salamander from a restaraunt kitchen, he(or she) was hiding in some spinach possibly imported from Israel. I have never kept newts or salamanders before so I was wandering if I had the tank set up right. I have put compost soil from a bag on the floor of the tank with a few branches and rocks. There is a small shallow dish of rain water in there and I have just bought some fruitfly lavae for him. I also keep the tank near a radiator, but not too close and it's turned down a bit. Is there anything important I am missing? He is just over an inch long and I was told it's a baby so do they need any special care?
Please help!
Jo

It doesn't need heat!

That looks like some type of smooth newt, but I'm not sure which type. At the top of the page, there is a link to Caudata Culture. It has all of the captive care info. you need.

Odds are that that is a native species. There are no Lissotriton in Israel, though it could be O. vittatus. Your animal looks just like my L. vulgaris (Smooth Newt) juveniles, though it could be another Lissotriton species. I'll leave IDing up to someone else.

Try this caresheet. It's for L. boscai, but the care should be similar. (See the part on terrestrial juveniles). http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Triturus/T_boscai.shtml

Ultimately, I'd wait for a definite positive ID as a native species, and then release it to a nearby wooded area. Efts can be tricky to keep, and require very small food items (fruit flies, mites, springtails), which can be difficult. And please take him away from the radiator; he needs things as cool as possible (20C or less) and high temperatures will kill him.

If you do keep him, you need a damp setup with a substrate such as cocofiber. Soil would work as well, but don't use sphagnum moss. A small water dish might be useful, but make it shallow and easy to get out of; efts are notorious for drowning. And if they don't catch this post and you decide to keep it, post in the Eurasian newts forum (http://www.caudata.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=32), and someone with more experience with these guys can give you more/better advice.

im also gonna say its a smooth newt L. vulgaris (also in the uk called a common newt) uk native species.