Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys!

I work here at the Museum of Natural Science in Mississippi.

I've got a Slimy, a Marbled, a Cave (from Indiana), and two spotted Salamaders.

I'd like to make a decent display for them. I've had them for some time and they're doing well, but I'd love some advice from the Amphibian pros on here!

Do you recommend a small tank with a small waterfall-like setup that circulates the water - I'm thinking in terms of my cave (Eurycea lucifuga) who hangs out on my piece of dolomite but it would be better if he had a nice little flow so I didn't have to disrupt him as much keeping it moist for him. I'm not talking anything elaborate - like my 12 kingsnakes, I keep it simple and functional as possible for health and cost purposes. The water quality is something I would like your input on especially.

The A. opacum and A. maculatum - they live together, but is it safe to keep the cave in the same tank with them? What would you suggest in that regard? I've got them in one of those inexpensive round amphibian critter-like cages right now. It works, but something a little more "showy" would be nice (the cave is in his on critter cage at the moment).

The P. glutinosus I have in a different container and will keep him separate of course - they're common as dirt around here but this one's got some nice spots on him and is pretty large, so I'd like to keep him.

I know this is a broad question, but I'll be moving soon and I'd like to get some input from you folks before some bozo trys to sell me something at some store. I'm a herper and botanist, so when it comes to snakes or plants they can't get by on me, but salamanders are unique and I want the "goods" from folks like you who can give solid advice.

Thanks again!
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Peace.

-John

Welcome to salamanders I hope the following advice helps. I've been keeping salamanders longer than any other herp and here's what has worked for me. (as general rules)
1. always keeps different species seperate. This is a touchy topic and many enthusiasts insist on it but I find its a good idea for a few reasons. 1. its good quarantine practice and 2. it allows each species the "personal" space it needs.
2. keep it simple. find out as much as you can about the species you keep and represent their natural habitat as simply as possible. I keep my terrestrial species on a few inches of moist cypress mulch with cork hides. my aquatics are in half and half with a few inches of water and a climbing spot. (this is general again)
3. keep it cool. most salamanders like cool temps so the best place for your enclosure is a cool spot out of the sun.
4. as for enclosure size the more space you can afford the better. I use 20 gallon longs since their cheep and hold water well. plus they accomodate most medium size species.
5. continue to ask around. The more advice you get the better your decisions will be. Check out caudata.org for example they've got excellent resources.
6. Finally good luck, you'll find these guys to be quite rewarding and pretty easy once you get the recipe right.
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0.1.0 argentine horn
0.0.2 pixie
1.1.0 fire salamanders
0.0.1 axolotl
1.1.0 golden treefrogs
0.0.1 green treefrog
0.1.0 golden gecko
0.1.0 skunk gecko
0.0.1 cali king
0.1.0 sumatran blood python
0.1.0 ball python
0.0.1 argentine B&W tegu
0.0.2 giant black millipdes
0.0.2 dumpys

John,
The best setup that I have seen was at the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium (www.cshfha.org) about 7 years ago. Their display of newts and salamnders was great and most specimens were over 8 years old at the time. The largest Spotted, Marble and Eastern Tigers I have ever seen are found here. They also had a great Mudpuppy and Hellbender display. Their setup was simple yet efficient to allow observation by visitors. I recomend you contact them through the website and ask for their advise about setting up your display. You will not be disappointed! Good luck
Weaser

I agree. the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery has an excellent amphibina display room (their turtle husbadry leaves something to be desired bu that's another issue)

They have each salamanders pecies (14 in total i believe) in a separate cage.
They use aquaria which might be custome made but are in the twenty - thirty galon range size.
The room is kept cool..in the 60's via ari conditioning.
The terestrials are on live mosses and what loos to be a mixture of smooth gravel, top soil and cypress mulch.
The cages offer hiding logs for security but the animals are still visible.
The cages are kept at or near eye level so thy get more attention and people sem more willing to sepnd a minute searching for them.
If you can go or get photos its definitely worth it.

Watch out for mixing species and even individuals of differing sizes. Many salamnders will try to eat even slightly smaller ones (a much bigger issue with terrestrials than aquatics).

Avoid substrates that are very acidic.

Avoid sharp rocks.

You can have high levels of lighting provided they come from low wattage sourcers so they don't throw too much heat.

You can offer pre made tunnels, using pvc or plastic and partly submerge them for the terrestrials. Maculatum is at least partly fossorial and will aprreciate the cave. if you are clever you can arrange these tunnels so that spectators ca see them through the glass of the cages.
Some people keep water dishes in woth the terrestrials; other jsut make sure th ehumidity is high in most parts of the cage.
Extra substrate and layering of substrate and dividing the cage into areas of deeply piled substrate and shallowly piled substrate allow for ahumidity gradient and can look cool too.

It was mentioned above but definitely see
caudat culture at:
caudate central's caudata culture