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Larvae care!

P

panos

Guest
Hello people..
I just caught a newly hatched fire salamander in the wild.I was planning on catching one for quite long so i have done enough research i think..
I just wanted to ask for some more advice on keeping the larvae if there is anything i can do.
I have the little one in a water bowl containg 1,5 lt of water,with a stone in it and some leaves so that it can hide.I'm feeding it with amphipods which i found where i caught it and with pieces of earthworms which he eats as soon as i drop them.I have it for three days now and it is doing really well.I also have an air pump to provide the water with air. Is there anything else i can do from your experience to make it have a better life in the bowl b4 it becomes terrestrial? Thank you!
I'm really excited about this!
Panos
 
K

kai

Guest
Hi Panos,

are you from Greece? There are not many countries where it is legal to catch Salamandra so better check with your local legislature...

Your set-up seems fine with me. It's not large so keep changing the water regularly - better to do this daily and having a small tank than a large tank without water changes.

You can also try a small make-shift filter (instead of just using an air stone) but I'm not sure it's worth it in your case.

Make sure that the temperature stays low.

Best wishes,
kai
 
P

paolo

Guest
It's very important to use an air stone (combined with a filter, of course it's the optimum), because it favorites air exchange on the water surface and lowers temp thru evaporation. All salamanders' larvae need always a lot of oxygen in water, expecially if they was taken at high altitude.
Please let us know of which species you think they belong and where are the characteristic of the environment where they lived before.
The best advice, IMHO, is to free them all in the same place after their metamorphosis.
Best wishes.
 
P

panos

Guest
I only got one.I want to keep it..I left all the others i have seen where they were.I din't even touch them.
I found them in a spring where you can see water coming out from ground producing bubbles.It's very fascinating thing to watch.At that spot there are quite a lot of small nets.They are fir salamanders i think cause i have seen one b4 some years and at the beginning of summer i saw some who were nearly metamorphosis.they weren't there at that time so i suppose they are adults now and have left the spring.They are in around 800 m height.The spring is found 200 m above my father's village(where he was born).he told me that he has seen several of them so i don't worry if i did any harm by taking one.Plus not many people go there.I have mine for 6 days now and it looks fine,eating every day chops of earthworm.It does't seem stressed at all.I am very happy about this cause i wouldn't bear it having a bad time.
As for laws there is no problem!
Panos
PS.Sorry for my English!!
happy.gif
 
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