Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently was given a small salamander to take care of by my brother, who had liberated it from some children that surely would have killed it.
i looked through my field guides, and the only image i could find that matched his markings was of Batrachoseps major major.
I live in indiana, and the children supposedly found this salamander in the forset behind my brothers house. if you know about this species, it should not be anywhere near indiana, unless my research has failed me...
the salamander is doing well right now, but I would like to know what this species is so I may accomodate it more accurately.
thank you for any help

I live in Indiana too. Could you describe it to me. I ended up with one a friend of a friend found (since I'm into these things) it turned out to be a blue spotted salamander. Not on the Indiana native list at DNR. If it's on the list you can't keep it. I'll give you the link, it took me a while to find.

http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/endangered/regs.htm

Maybe this will help you narrow down your search too.
Good luck.
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**Kenn**

after further research, It is possible that the salamander in question COULD be an eastern redback salamander. however, the colors and marking placements, as well as the body proportions of the salamander, all seem to be somewhat off. It more closely resembles a garden slender salamander, but given the geographical implications, that seems very unlikely.
as an eastern redback seems to be the logical species, I suppose I should release it... there won't be any problems with releasing it now, will there? It has been atypically cold here, I live at the border of michigan and indiana, and we've allready seen snow.
the link is to the salamander it resembles more, sorry I can't take pictures to show you myself... tis the one on the right, btw.

linkage

It would seem too cold out to release it, yet they somehow manage to survive the winter. I'd say it's a 50-50 for survival unless you release it where there is deeper ground cover like a forest floor with leaf buildup. Most salamanders apparently burrow during the winter, but not all.
I'll take another look around and see if I can find anything like it that should be here in Indiana. I had a blue spotted salamander dropped off at my house a couple weeks ago. I've been debating releasing it too.
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**Kenn**

for the time being, he seems to be doing well in my 25/75 terrarium, so I'll probably hold out in hopes a warmer day comes by before the season's end, to give the little guy a better shot. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that he's just a more atypical variation on the species native to this area, he seems to do well in lower temperatures, so I doubt he came here from cali.
thanks for all your help on this, tell me if you find any little guys like this one. again, thanks for helpin me out!