Hello from Oregon!

[kwiksotik]

Hello Caudata.org members! My name is Josh, and I have been an active reptile and amphibian enthusiast since I was young. Amphibians (especially newts), have always fascinated me due to their varied and transformative life cycles.
I actually have never owned many animals purchased from pet stores and have instead always kept a few wild caught specimens. I now live in Oregon but until about 3 months ago I was living in New Hampshire where I was keeping a red eft and 5 spotted salamanders.

The spotted salamanders I found as eggs drying out in the remains of a puddle in the middle of a dirt road. There were around 50 eggs, 25 hatched into larvae (this happened within hours of me placing the eggs back into water), and I lost 5 at varying times between larval and the transition to juvenile stage. Never having raised salamanders in this stage of life I found this to be a very interesting and rewarding process. I honestly think I was only able to do it because of the information I learned on this site as I researched how to care for them. I released 15 of the little guys back into the wild near where I found them as eggs in Northern NH, and kept the rest as pets until I moved. I gave them to a close and trusted friend who wanted them and after a skype call last night I'm happy to say they are all doing well.

I'm without any pets right now, and I'm really looking forward to setting up a terrarium for a newt or 2. From some brief looking it seems that native species are illegal to own here in Oregon (oh well), so I'm thinking I'll have to look into captive bred animals.

 

[CJ1981]

Hello and welcome aboard!

Congratulations on your successfull raise and release and I'm pleased you found this site so helpful - I know my Axolotls are grateful for the knowledge I have had gleaned from here

If you want to avoid petshops then keep an eye out in the for sale section of this site, people are often selling/trading eggs and specimens and I am sure you will be able to fill your pet void very quickly without having to go near a petshop. :blob:

 

[JReed]

Welcome to the forum! And welcome to Oregon!

As a fellow Oregonian (and newt enthusiast) you are lucky to have entered the world of Taricha granulosa, a common native newt here. I think ( I admit my bias here) that Taricha granulosas are the cutest and tamest newts around! I own several adults and 2 yrs old juveniles (captive bred) as well as some very recently morphed "babies". I hope sometime soon ( once I get organized) to post some videos soon of them "begging" for worms are eating from our hands. They all have distinct personalities. They quickly become comfortable around humans and learn that following us around through the glass gets them extra cute points and food!

Welcome once again!

 

[Otterwoman]

All my favorite newts come from the west coast! I hope you enjoy it out there.

 

[esn]

Native species are not illegal to own here! They are illegal to buy, sure. But Taricha Granulosa and some others can be collected. There is no law against collection of them as I am aware, along with a few other common guys.

List of species found here:
ODFW Wildlife Species - Amphibians

This document shows which from the previous list are protected:

DIVISION 043 MISCELLANEOUS PERMITS AND RECORDS 635-043-0085 Hunting From a Motor[-Propelled] Vehicle

Red Backed sals, t grans, macros, etc. are legal to capture.

 

[kwiksotik]

Thanks everyone!

Oh, I must have misinterpreted what I was reading on the state laws
.
Thank you esn and JReed. I just checked out Taricha Granulosa and they are some pretty cool looking little guys. That's good news, I might just have to find some!