Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have caught some Dusky's by a creek close to my home. I have 5 of them. As far as the type of environment I need for them...is it aquatic or semi?

According to their species, the various dusky salamanders utilize different habitats. Since you caught those about which you ask at/in a creek, I must surmise that they are one of the streamside species. These do well on a substrate of clean, _cool_, and very damp sphagum moss but should have access to some shallow water as well. They should be given flat hiding areas, both on the moss and over the water. These are hardy but secretive salamanders. Good luck/Dick

Hmmm I am setting up their aquariam now...I was using the semi-aquatic method with divider in the middle. I'm glad you said shallow water. I was going to make it deeper going by what I had read. Now I think you are right because the stream is not very deep and I have never seen them in the deeper parts! Thanks! Also, what would you feed them? There are lots of tiny fish there but I don't know if they eat them or not...

They might eat small fish if they could catch them, but are far more adept at finding worms, aquatic insects, and smaller salamanders-- yes-- duskies are quite cannibalistic.
Under the cover of darkness these salamanders often leave the water and prowl the shoreline for invertebrate prey and other salamanders.
Keep cagemates nearly the same size. One ploy is to offer them segments of worms or minnows impaled on the end of a broomstraw after dark.