I'll see if I can't get a copy of her thesis and create a PDF. It doesn't deal w/ "captive" breeding per se, but rather the techniques and success of establishing artificial breeding sites. The A. californiense were collected from a vernal pool during their larval stage at Black Diamond Mines (Contra Costa County, CA), part of the East Bay Regional Park System only after obtaining permits from both the CA Dept. of Fish & Game & the US Fish & Wildlife Service. The project was run through the biology dept. at Cal State Hayward w/ help from UC Davis as well. We dug 10-foot long trenches in our back yard that ran at a slope from ground level to almost six feet deep to approximate ground squirrel burrows. "View ports" were included every couple of feet so that it could be determined how far into the burrows the sals actually went - there were also data loggers at each port that recorded temp, rh, etc... At the opening of the tunnels was a round plastic "kiddy" pool that was allowed to fill naturally w/ rain & dry accordingly as well (artificial vernal pool). The substrate & vegetation were naturally occurring as well.
This is just a quick overview - like I said, I'll try to make a copy of the paper downloadable for everyone. The sals reproduced for three seasons, I think the offspring are at Cal State Hayward.
(Message edited by d-willett on October 12, 2004)