Batrachoseps

[brian]

Has anyone ever kept one in captivity. I'm thinking of putting food out in my backyard near where a few live, but I'm not sure what they can eat.

 

[nate]

Hi Brian, lots of people have kept them in captivity. There's really no point in trying to leave food out for them because they're essentially living underground and under rocks and logs. They only eat tiny, moving prey like springtails, small flies, termites, etc.

 

[brian]

I'd be interested in how people have kept them in captivity if anyone cares to go into detail.

I mean I have some ideas in theory, but they are so secretive it seems. A lot more then the Aneides species or Ensatina.

Actually the reason is I'd like to observe some behavior and even the ones in my backyard are hard to observe without disturbing them.

 

[nate]

I personally kept them in plastic storage containers with tight-fitting lids. Inside, I placed about 2 inches of packed, moist soil, leaf litter, and a few rocks. They'll do very well in this sort of setup.

 

[brian]

Oh, OK thanks for the info.

One more question. How much do they typically eat assuming it's a adult?

 

[nate]

I'd guess a decent sized adult could eat 15-30 fruitflies if it could in a sitting. I've never tried to feed one until it was satiated in one sitting. Generally I just let a bunch of insect loose in their terrarium and let them forage as they please.

 

[henk]

In the wild we found quite some during our Oregon trips. Almost all of them were found in moss or underneath and in rotting wood (redwood). One thing was also clear : if the wood was kind of pulverised we didn't find any at all. Probably since such woodstubs (although well wed and carrying many hiding spots) actually didn't carry much other invertebrae (food).

just loved those tiny little guys , but since I mainly feed my salamanders worms I was not immediatelly interested in trying to keep them... oh what a narrow mouth they have.