Help!terrestrial salamander tank set-up!

[karolina]

I need help with setting up a tank for my fully terrestrial salamander my salamander is a longer-toed salamander/Ambystoma macrodactylum It's current set up is in a critter carrier with damp paper towels and half a hamster tube with 3 openings. I am going to tansfer my salamander to a 10 gallon tank (my salamander is 8cm in length) once I get the side fixed cause of a crack and get proper setting up. I am planning to put oraganic topsoil in the bottem but i need to know about how much. and I am planning to put a pothos plant in there is it okay to put it in there and if so does it need ay special care and are there other plants/mosses I can put in the tank. also I will be putting some large rocks and barck/climbing branches in there. if anyone has taken care of these spiecs before or somthing similar please give me advice and possibly post a pic here of Ambystoma macrodactylum/long-toed salamander or any other similar salamander tank set-ups, esspecially terrestrial tank set-up. oh and one last thing what king of food can I feed him other than small earth worms and 4-week old crickets which i will give to my salamander today cause I am gonig shopping today. (how should I give him the food just put in in the tank?)

p.s. sorry for any spelling errors I had to quickley type this as my computer time is limited.

there are only 3 actual pet stores here where I live T_T and none of them have anything I can feed my salamander I am gona go and see if paws and jaws has any small crickets though. there pet stores I have are-
petcetera
paws n jaws jaws(or was it paws and jaws)
bosleys

soon we are gona have a petsmart store here on nov.7 it will be finished I was wondering if It's a good store with decent prices?, they build it across the street from petcetera so I guess they are gona try to compete with it.

 

[terry]

Karolina, might I refer you to this thread?

http://www.caudata.org/forum/cgi-bin/show.cgi?tpc=7618&post=32752#POST32752

It shows a pretty decent and functional setup for Ambystoma.
Terry

 

[john]

Karolina

You're best bet for finding appropriately sized crickets is via the internet. The small ones you can get at pet stores will quickly grow too large if they are kept at proper temperatures to keep them healthy. Also, they totally rip you on the prices. Also seriously consider culturing your own fruit flies. This is a super easy way to grow your own food for your animal. And, of course, there is the caudata.org favorite of earthworms pulled from right around your house. I ran across an online vendor of crickets in Canada the other day. I'll see if i can find the link again.

 

[john]

Here ya go:
http://www.canadianfeeders.com/feeder_insects.html

 

[edward]

If the crack is not large enough to to cause the tank to be unstable, then the crack will not matter in its use. Otherwise you can get a pane of glass cut that is large enough to cover the crack and silicone it in place over the crack. This will fix the tank and enable it to be used. If the crack is bad enough to make it unstable, then the whole side needs to be removed and replaced. It is often just as easy then to just buy a new ten gallon tank.

Ed

 

[karolina]

well the crack isn't that bad it's just about 2cm from the top of the tank going almost all the way from the side of the tank (the smaller side not big front rectangle side) my dad says he can get a special durable, water proof see-through tape to fix it the glass is a bit wiggly though.

 

[edward]

While the tape may seal the tank, it will not provide the structural support needed to make it safer to use the tank.

siliconing a pane of glass over the crack may not be asthetically pleasing but it is by far the safer route to take.

Ed