Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, i just found this little guy in my yard today and i want to keep him as a pet. i'm working on setting up an environment for him and i can't seem to find any information on what he will eat. he's pretty small and he's missing his front left "hand". he's 7cm including his tail.

ANY advice or links would be greatly appreciated!

-Jordan.

crickets should be fine. you can try other insects liek waxworms if you want, but you shouldnt need to. no heat, moist soil is best with a wide, shallow water dish. a couple hides would be appreciated by him as well. no need for full spectrum lights either, hes nocturnal.

thankyou so much
he'll really eat live crickets? he seems so small.

well, youll have to find a place that sells small ones, but his mouth is decent size. i would give him crickets about half as big around as his neck.

You might also want to find small worms, or chop nightcrawlers for him. This species is pretty shy, so don't expect to see him out too much. Good luck!

They will eat appropriate size crickets, worms, and other such garden invertebrates. Mine are fed crickets and once in awhile I dust the crickets with a commercial supplement.

You can set them up and manage them like other Ambystomatidae Salamanders such as Tiger Salamanders.

They are terrestrial but need to be kept moist. They like to burrow and are not very active. Broken pottery makes good hiding spots. Make sure the cage is well ventilated or the humidity and moisture will cause fungus and other problems. You will want to mist it regularly. I also use a clay saucer for water but they never enter it. They do like to hide under it and the water seeps through the clay. Only use clean bottled or dechlorinated water.

Here is another site with good information in addition to Kingsnake.com

http://www.caudata.org/

Go to the Caudata Culture section for care sheets etc.
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Randy Hallman

thankyou thankyou thankyouuuu.