Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, my friends dad found her a salamander. It is PA native species, black with yellow spots,about 2 inches long head to tail. She's keeping it as a pet. I've seen them around here before, under logs and such. She has it in a tank with earth bottom and some moss and water dish. It is friendly, comes out when you open top, sits on your hand. She asked me what they eat. I said bugs and worms or else plants, or maybe both, so her boyfriend put some ants in there but we cant tell if it eats them we think they escape so we tried to catch a cricket for it but that was to quick for us (we were drinking) and we found a smaller worm for it to eat and put that in there. Anyway what kind is it and whats it eat? Anybody know?

I'll take a wild guess at this. Probably Spotted salamander.
Here is what I know,
Keep it cool. It will probably die if the temps go above
74 for extended periods of time (basements usually work)
65 degrees I believe is ideal.
go to you local pet store and buy pinhead crickets for it. Mine
love these. You can dust them in calcium powder once a week bought from your local pet store to ensure they don't die from week bones.
Keep the container moist or it will dry out and die.
Dont hold them. The skin is toxic to humans. Human skin (salts, oils), even freshly cleaned is toxic to them and can make them sick.
don't spill any beer in there.
Treat with care. It's endangered in some states, and it's a baby. Adults get up to eight inches long.
here's a link for further understanding. I've been told you can use the care sheets given for the tiger salamander here:
Link

Unless you have some residue from soap or moisturizers ect on your skin, your skin is not toxic to amphibians.
The problems is that most amphibians breath through their skin and handling dries out and/or damages the amphibians skin inhibiting the animal's ability to breath.
Additionally, a person's body temperature is too warm for most amphibians and prolonged holding can cause thermal stress in the animal.
That say be aware that to possess a native species collected in PA they will need a PA fishing liscence.

Ed

Wow, I was wrong. Imagine that. Thanks for clarifying Ed.

It is a Slimy Salamander (plethodon glutinosis glutinosis) I think, but the one in the picture I looked it up in has it with white spots instead of its yellow. I looked it up in a book on wildlife in my state.