Is my salamander/newt habitat ok?

[kristin]

Here is my small salamander or new habitat. I don’t currently have a salamander, but I’m trying to find one. As for the habitat, it may be a bit small, but it should be OK for a smaller-sized salamander. I added a little circle for one to climb through, and I will be adding more things to it, like a few large rocks for it to climb on. What do you think of it? Do you think it’s acceptable for a small salamander or newt? (I’m not sure what kind I will find.)

http://www.repticzone.net/images/42204/habitat1.JPG

(P.S. Sorry if the pic's not that great!!)

 

[jameswei]

It should be acceptable for a tiger salamander or a species that is equally as hearty, however, keep in mind, that you should have a good amount of gravel or rocks for the salamander to climb from, any small salmander may drown in that pool you made.

 

[kristin]

Ok, will do! Thanks!

 

[ryan]

Kristin you arn't looking for a salamander in the wild to keep are you? I belive this is illegal in your state.

 

[foster]

Kristin,
What kind of soil did you use? If you used a standard potting mix that contained perlite then you have a potential problem with whatever you decide to house in there. In case you don't know, perlite is little white styrofoam like material that is used as a component of most major brands of potting mixes. It is great for plants but bad for live animals because it can be harmful, if not fatal, if swallowed.
Chip

 

[kristin]

Yes, I realized that, and I changed the potting soil to just plain dirt. Thanks anyway, though!

 

[ryan]

Do you have any pics of your salamander? >.>

 

[ryan]

Do you have any pics of your salamander?

 

[tony]

i was about to state the same. that soil looks suspiciously like potting soil which is no good. you'd want to switch to a substrate of fertilizer-free topsoil or some cocofiber. The cocofiber you can find at petshops branded as ecoearth or bedabeast it sells for like $4-6 in a brick form that you add water to. i use a mix of cocofiber,leaflitter, and cypress mulch ontop of a packed "floor" of layered topsoil,charcoal, and sand. a pic of my setup can be seen here
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/7/79744.html

what are the dimensions of that tub? that'll help determine which species you can potentially keep. i agree on the water bowl looks like it may be hard for some smaller/youger species to climb out of

 

[kristin]

It is about 1 foot long and 8" wide, I know it's small, but I figured it would be ok for something small like a 4 toed or a red back.

 

[kristin]

As you already know, I changed it from potting soil to regular dirt. Also, I re-did it with a curved piece of bark, which acts as a tunnel, and I added some fairly small rocks (but not small enough to be swallowed) to the water bowl so that the salamander could get out. Do you think that's enough?

 

[tony]

check the Species Database the info for redbacks mentions they never enter water. i find redbacks in my backyard and althought there are some large puddle areas i usually find them in leaf piles and under boards i have laid around to help collect bugs.