Eurycea lucifuga

K

Kurt

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Well, they finally arrived! They were two days late and surprisingly, still alive and good health. I thought for sure when I opened the box the smell of rotting flesh would be greeting me. However this was not the case and I am extremely thankful.
I currently have them on a substrate of white paper towels in a Rubbermaid shoe box. They have a piece of cork bark to hide under and a shallow water bowl. I gave them some fruit flies, but I have not observed them eating any as of yet. I guess they may need some time to settle in.
Has anyone ever kept this species? If so, do you have any pointers you can share?
 
i currently keep two lucifuga and one longicuda. mine live in a ten gallon aquarium with a background made from great stuff with small pipes running through it. the wall is covered in mosses and has 15 little creeks running down it. the salamanders live in crevices carved out of the great stuff. mine eat 1/2 inch crickets. i could only get them to eat in a natural set up. my salamanders are old adults. i have never been able to keep juveniles for long. the smaller they are the pickier they are with food. try the natural set up and keep it planted with native ferns and stocked with wood lice. my advice for this species is this, keep them cool and make your aquarium loook like their habitat.

i made my set up from these instructions
http://www.blackjungle.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2108
 
Hi Kurt,

They are very easy to keep so long as temperatures are kept between ~50-70F. They can be kept on paper towels, but will probably do better in a more natural setup for you. I've kept them for the past 7 years at the zoo, but we have never had any reproduction. They will eat crickets, maggots, wood lice, and pretty much any other smallish invertebrate they can fit in their mouths. Carefully stack flat rocks in your cage (make sure they are stable and won't shift) and trickle some water over the pile and they will hang out in the crevices between them.

Good luck,
Tim
 
Well, here it is a week later and they are doing fine. They do like to eat. I may need to hire a stable to keep up with the manure. :D They seem to be calming down, but just a little bit. I have had to chase them across the floor once or twice, that always makes me nervous. I worry they may crawl into some cranny and I won't be able to retrieve them. They have seen the vet and I will be taking them back soon for another deworming.
 
Remember that ALL animals and rock formations in caves are protected by the Federal Cave Resources Act. Most states with significant numbers of caves also have their own protection laws. These laws only apply to caves on public lands unless the species is listed as endangered.

But on private land, anything goes.

Yesterday I spent over 2 hours laying in thick cave mud to photograph these adorable salamanders , but I would NEVER consider taking one home. I simply cannot reproduce their natural habitat in my home. I have a hard enough time keeping my axolotl tanks below 70', and keeping them in a refrigerator to simulate the cold and darkness would make them less than interesting as pets.

My personal rule is that if I cannot keep a wild-caught animal in a habitat in which it will breed, then I need to just take its photo and leave it there.

For instance, I took some underwater photos of the very rare and threatened Tennessee Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus). I could be perhaps the only guy around keeping it in captivity, but never in my wildest dreams would I consider taking one home, but I certainly could since the cave I was in was on private land in Northern Alabama.

But I will contribute my best photos to the calendar contest :)
 
I purchased mine, I did not personally collect them. According to the field guide, they are found around cave entrances and under logs and stones outside of caves.
So far, mine appear to be thriving.
 
My cave salamanders are kept with longtail salamanders and large two lined salamanders. ive noticed that this species isnt terretorial and will get into the same hide as two to three salamanders. they make great pets if you have the means to keep them.
 
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