Eurycea lucifuga set up?

[warrior]

I'm thinking about getting some cave salamanders but not sure about how the tank set up should be.Are they at all aquatic or completely terrestrial?I've seen a few posts here and pics of a set up for them but no caresheet here or on caudata culture.Are they a hardy sal or not too easy to care for?Also are they shy and hide alot?thanks for any help.

 

[madeve]

Make a search forEurycea lucifuga I'm sure you'll get a lot of info. I know of two threads that might help.

This one shows a tank made by a member http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=58316.

This one discusses the care and some requirements http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61330.

Hope it helps.

 

[John]

They hide a lot and they are not able to deal with high temperatures. Not a beginner species and some people would consider them advanced (as are most Plethodontids).

 

[warrior]

I saw those threads on cave sals,and none give proper set up ideas.The tank set up in the thread is nice though.I've also searched the internet for any care on them in captivity and got nothing.I'm just not sure if the set up should be a paludarium or vivarium type set up or terrestrial.I've kept spring sals before but they wer'e aquatic at times.Can anyone that kept or keeps them give any thoughts on them at being good captives?I have a basement thats cool so keeping them cool is not a problem.

 

[John]

They are undemanding captives - they like it relatively damp with hiding places of stones on soil. Ideally you could have a shallow water area and stack rocks beside and into it with plenty of hiding places above water. The salamanders won't enter the water but they will hang out in the rock crevices near the water.

I see someone is selling a bunch of these on kingsnake right now - it's rather saddening that guys collect so many of this beautiful species.

 

[warrior]

Thanks I thought that was the type of set up they"d like.I was going to buy a few from that fella on kingsnake but im not sure now since he told me through email he has 25 or so,and probably collected.I was going to attempt to breed them since I have a basement that keeps things cool.I have been looking for reasonable prices on caudates(mainly newts)but no one has been putting any adds on this forum in the past month so I guess I'm getting desperate to get something different.

 

[John]

Well no one captive breeds them so the only way you're going to get them is by collecting them yourself or from kingsnake. I definitely favour the former option because I view most of those kingsnake vendors (with a few exceptions, like Michael Shrom) with disdain - they rape and pillage the fauna of the US with impunity, solely for monitory gain and with little or no thought for the impact or legality of their actions.

 

[Kurt]

I placed an order for three of those cave salamanders. Can't wait for them to arrive. The guy selling them is in Florida, cave salamanders aren't found there, so I doubt they are illegally collected. I could be wrong, but I hope not.
As far as husbandry is concerned, I read the Peterson's field guide to get an idea of house them.

 

[John]

I doubt they are illegally collected.

Why does it matter if it was legal when they're mass collecting animals?

 

[Kurt]

Why does it matter if it was legal when they're mass collecting animals?

True. But how many were mass collected? I have only seen that one ad for this species. I have not seen them on anyother deal list. Of course I have not looked at every dealer list that is out there.

 

[matt3civic]

I keep mine on soil with a rocks for hiding places. I also bought one of those cheap waterfalls from petsmart and let that be my source of water. I cycle those blue ice packs that you put in lunch boxes to keep the water temperature really low and the temperature in general low. They definitely like it cold...I'm kind of embarassed to say this, but I had one overheat about a month ago, so that's why I started with the ice packs. I also have a couple dark-sided salamanders in there and they along with the young cave pretty much live in the water bowl of the waterfall. I don't know if that helps, but I can take a picture if that would help...