Fire salamander metamorphosis questions

[ahritchie]

Hey everyone, my baby fire salamander who is 8 weeks old has reached metamorphosis; the yellow colors/patterns have really come out the past few days and the gills have receded almost completely in a few days. He/she is about 2 1/2 inches long. My question is in regards to his setup; right now he's in a 10 gallon tank tilted up on a slant with one end about 3-4 inches higher than the other so he can move from the deeper water (3 inches) to the land area; there is no substrate just a bare tank with some elodea floating....when should I move him to a terrestrial setup? I noticed he's hanging out more and more toward the shallow end of his tank almost on the "land" portion the past couple days. Does anyone with experience raising salamanders from larvae have a recommendation: either keep him in the semi-terrestrial longer or convert it to 100% terrestrial with a small water dish? This is the first larvae I have ever raised. Thanks!

 

[Bellabelloo]

Your current set up is similar to what I used. I found when mine where ready , they literally just climbed out. I took the ones that had come onto land out into a separate container with barely damp paper and a few hides for cover. I fed these chopped earthworm, flightless fruit flies and aphids. They did take a little while to get used to their new diet.

 

[Jennewt]

In the slanted tank, provide some sort of hiding spots in the above-water area. When the salamander is "ready", you will find it in that hiding area. At that point, it will refuse to go back in water and you will need to transfer it to a terrestrial setup.

 

[Will B]

Hi.
From what I gathered, after morphing they barelly need water, except a litle dish or litle container with clean, coolish, dechlorinated water. Most water requirements should come from the moist in the atmosphere and soil (moss, bark, leaf litter, etc).
I would suggest reducing the water proportion in your setup, leaving just a litle and shallow pool. Adults aren't very good swimmers anyway.

W