Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok,
I REALLY don't agree with taking animals out of the wild, but this guy caught a marbled and has had her for about 3 months. (Of course, I chewed him out lol) Since he's had her in captivity so long, I'm not sure if I should put her back. Feedback?
He decided to give her to me as I keep other newts and salamanders, but I've never had one of these. I've read the care sheet on here and looked up stuff in my books, but as usual, have found quite a bit of contradictory info.
1) I have her on damp paper towels. Can I use coconut mulch instead? What other substrates do you guys use?
2) She's in a 5 gal tank. Is this enough?
3) Will they only eat wax worms, earth worms and crickets? She's fairly skinny and I'd like to fatten her up.
I read they need temps between 65-75, right? I keep my place in the low 70s, so I think she'll be ok. What's this I hear about people putting them in the FRIDGE?!
Any info I may need to know and feedback in general is MUCH appreciated. Thanks kiddies!

At this time, the recommendation for any amphibian kept in captivity is that the animal not be released. (This is also against the law in many states requiring a rehabber permit).
The reason for this is that pathogens have been introduced into various regions that are not native to the group. This is particuarly true if you or the other person has other herps that are not from the same exact region. Introduced and transferred diseases include chytrid, iridio and rana viruses for amphibians (and if you want an example in reptiles look at what mycoplasma has done to the native gopher and desert tortoises (and has now been found in box turtles).

The care sheet on caudata.org http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_opacum.shtml was written by a person that has bred opacum in captivity but at this time there are so few reproductions that this species is still collected to get them established in the pet trade. (if you check the bibliography at the end of this article, you can see that there is a lot of support for the information provided in that article).

As it says in the care sheet you can use substrates other than the paper towels but the salamander will burrow and hide all of the time if it is deep enough. I have kept them on cypress mulch (the various coconut fiber beddings was not available back then). With the bedding you want to use, make sure that it is damp enough and packed down enough that the bedding does not stick to the salamander.

A five gallon tank is fine for one opacum.

They will eat any soft bodied invertebrate but these are the ones that are commonly available to feed them. Opacum have relatively slow metabolisms and readily and rapidly become obese.

People put them in the fridge to try and cycle them or if there is a heat spike to keep the salamander from getting too warm. Many species do not readily tolerate temps above 70 F (or in some species above 60 F) and these are kept in the fridge to keep them cold enough to prevent stress.

Ed

If you take it from wild or buy it isnt it same thing? Because the spotteds/marbleds people but are from the wild. I never understood why people here have no problem with buying a spotted but not when someone takes it from the wild.
Its the same thing. MOST sallys are wild caught not just spotteds but so many other types.

Jeanin