Wild spotted sally advice.

[CreativeOne]

Fantastic site! Learning so much. Anywho, my 7 year old daughter was given a salamander that her uncle found in the woods. She fell in love with it and I didn't have the heart to tell her maybe this isn't the best first pet. I happened to have a 10G tank and filled it with some clean topsoil and moss. Made a few hiding spots for it and tried to have a pool area for it to get wet. I might as well make the best for him/her.

Here is a video of it eating a worm so you can see for signs of illnesses or perhaps how old it might be? Its only on my FB page, but its set to public.

Video

Since then I change the tank around to a much simpler terrain once after reading so much about these sals. Ive removed the 'pool' and little ramps to goto different levels of the tank. Perhaps its just my ignorance showing that these sals are aware of different levels and memorizing to use the ramp. lol

I've also learned that they absorb moisture through their Cloaca and skin. Some people use water bowls but whenever I set one up, he gets in ok, but seems to spaz out trying to get out (I'm using conditioned water). I setup little rocked along the edge to help. The water just eventually gets dirty and I clean it way to often.

So in this 'redesign' Its just a little more flatter and instead of using a pool, I mist every few hours and I placed a non dyed wet paper towel soaked in conditioned water in front of his hideout. Not sure if its good.

I'm just looking for some peace of mind advice from what you can gather from me. This daddy just wants to make sure his daughter remains happy!

Thank you
Corey

 

[Jan]

Have a look at this article Corey - the information is applicable to spotted salamanders as well as tiger salamanders: Caudata Culture Articles - Tiger Salamander 101

I would suggest mixing some coco-fiber (like Bed-a-Beast) with your organic topsoil - helps to retain moisture and helps avoid soil clumping. Be wary of over watering...this can lead to health issues especially if there is inadequate ventilation. The soil should be moist but not wet. With my set-up, I rarely have to mist. If the substrate looks a little dry, I pour a little spring water on the substrate.

 

[CreativeOne]

This is awesome! I saw this article earlier when looking through the site and didnt read it because it was for Tigers. Glad to know I didnt go totally wrong with it.

Any look at the video? I see some of the spots are faded and not as 'poppy' Is this because of its diet? Age? or just genetics.

I am happy that its eating and seems to venture out a bit during the day and at night it burrows holes into the substrate lol. I like its personality!

Substrate.. Check, I will be going to Wal-mart and see what I can pick up. I don't have a pet store anywhere around me. I am also thinking of removing the moss. Its not exactly clean and who knows what organisms is hiding.

Thanks Jan for the help!

Corey

 

[sde]

I don't know exactly why the dots are fading, but it might have to do with diet. I know that larvae salamanders and newts fed with food high in carotene will have brighter colors that those that are fed low carotene diets. So this might be possible with adults as well.

You can also try feeding crickets, snails, slugs, woodlice, and the like. But make sure you don't put too many crickets in at a time though, or they may bite him.

He looks healthy to me. Don't see any problems.

 

[Bellabelloo]

During breeding season, I have noticed particularly with my males that the yellow is more vivid.

My animals have a tub with a coco fibre/ soil/ and leaf substrate. I have layers of stacked broken terracotta pots, cork bark and bark pieces and moss. This gives them different areas to lurk and hide in. They have a large bowl of water with leaves and twigs and they only tend to use during their breeding season, I don't change this at all, I just top up with water maybe once or twice a year.

 

[CreativeOne]

Thank you everyone. I got a bag of top soil and coco fiber and a small reptile water dish she can climb in and out of. A new big bottle of Aqua-safe and some blood worms.

I tried to feed him a blood worm but didn't want it. I'm assuming hes just been fed alot lately and just chilling since they don't get fed but a few times a week.

I haven't changed the soil yet because hes been through quite a few ' tank redesigns' lately so Ill hold off on Monday when I put the clean soil in. (The soil I'm using now is my lawns soil which isn't all that great)

Thanks again!

 

[Jan]

I tried to feed him a blood worm but didn't want it. I'm assuming hes just been fed alot lately and just chilling since they don't get fed but a few times a week.

Bloodworm can be a generic term - are you referring to Glycera genus....which is sold as fishing bait? If so, I wouldn't use these as they can be pretty vicious and can have a painful bite (from experience). Best worms are nightcrawlers - the perfect caudate food. You can also try red wigglers - but some animals won't accept these especially if cut up.