Mud Salamanders

[Viv]

Hi guys. Its me again. I now have some questions on Mud Salamanders,(P. m. montanus). I have a semi-aquatic tank that I could use for these sals. There is about 3-4 inches of water and a small land section. There is a filter and a rock sticking out of the water. Now here are my questions.

1. What is their diet?
2. What is their temperature range?
3. Is my setup sutable for them?

Thanks

 

[Greatwtehunter]

You can keep them just like P. ruber.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...elp/71653-pseudotriton-ruber-ruber-setup.html

 

[taherman]

You might want to add more organic matter than for ruber. I keep them in a mix of wet sphagnum and dead oak leaves with a constant trickling flow of water moving through it. It creates a semi suspended loose substrate that holds semi-aquatic burrows pretty well and the flow keeps rancid anaerobic spots from developing. I collected them as tiny metamorphs and they are up to several inches long now. Very slow growers.

 

[eMax]

I realize this thread is several years old and the setup mentioned may mot even be around anymore, but Taherman could you elaborate for us? How did you manage to achieve a constant trickling flow through the substrate? Did you use live sphagnum or dead? Are the animals ever visible? And most importantly, is this still how you would recommend keeping this species? Any pictures you could provide for us would also be appreciated!

Thanks for the information, it's quite difficult finding information about keeping this species!

 

[taherman]

A version of this setup is still around and I bred them last year. Trickling carbon-filtered municipal water enters the tank through a 1/4" line and runs over some stacked sandstone pieces. Water exits through a submerged drain on the opposite end to create the directional flow. Sphagnum is dead, though there is some other semiaquatic java-type moss growing at the land/water interface on the rocks.

Mud salamanders are very rarely visible. Occasionally I see a head poking out briefly when the enclosure is dark and I check with a flashlight. Very secretive species.

I would still suggest keeping them like this, with maybe 25% terrestrial area of bark nuggets and leaves. I have a photo somewhere, but not handy right now.

 

[eMax]

Thanks for the reply! If you ever find or take a photo I'd love to see it. If you never see them what do you feed them?

 

[TristanClark]

I've been trying to find these still so i'd also really appreciate pics or a video if at all possible... i keep rubers and springs and even got my rubers to do courtship so p. montanus will complete the trilogy