is my red-backed sal hibernating? should I risk rousing him to check?

[armada_lens]

hi folks,

First post - any help appreciated!

Been keeping what we're pretty sure is an eastern red-backed sal from our backyard in a nice little enclosure with local soil and leaves for a few weeks, keeping him misted and putting worms, beetles, and crickets in the box. There is a dirt mound where he burrows, but until a few days ago he would come out at night. I realized I haven't seen him in several days and am wondering if he's OK in there. If he's gone to sleep for the winter or something, would I cause any harm by poking around? Temps in the room have been between 55-65 degrees F.

Thanks in advance!

a_l

 

[JM29]

Hi,

Unless you have really low temperatures, a redback salamander will remain active.

The best method I've tested is the following :

Wait until the evening,
Mist a lot,
Give it a good load of fruit flies.
Plug off the light for 1 or 2 hours.

Fruit flies will not bury and, enven if they cannot fly, they'll try to climb on everything.
Your redback will the go out of its burrowing and you'll not have to dig to see it.