My Dermophis are currently in a 36"x18"x18" glass aqu. filled with about 8" of coconut bark soil. There is some sphagnum mixed in, and they have a length of bark for hiding and a shallow water dish. It has a glass top and I do not use any lighting or heating in addition to the room lights. They are at ~75F. I feed nightcrawlers and simply dump in more when I notice the nightcrawlers are becoming hard to find. I also feed my nightcrawlers (of course) veggies and fruit.



We use soil that doesn't contain manure or otehr additives such as wetting agents. The soil is changed every three to six months. The soil is kept damp enough to allow the caecilians to form stable tunnels but not wet enough to be able to squeeze water from the soil. The ones at work have survived temperatures up into the mid 80s F with no obvious ill effects. There are offered food twice a week and all uneaten food items are removed the next day to prevent worms from dieing in the soil and fouling it.

They will also eat pink mice and are recorded taking lizards and snakes.





I began with 3 adults last year, and one had babies (8 total, but one died before I found them) 3 months later. I do not know if the mother came in pregnant, but this is probably the case. All babies died within a couple months, and I think the parent(s) ate them. I didn't seperate them because I thught they had ample room and food. The smallest adult died a few months later.



Its more likely that the adults outcompeted them for food but they also seem to like it slightly wetter, I had a similar experience but the female was seperated and all of the offspring were recovered and seperated out. They did fine for several years and succumbed to an unidentified viral infection.



Am I using the right size tank?



We keep a larger group together but the space seems to be about right.

How can I sex them?



Unknown, you may be able to sex them by using ultrasound and looking for follicles.



Ed

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