rhetoriccamel
New member
Hello, and happy to a part of the forums here. This post will be a bit long so bear with me.
The TLDR version: I've enjoyed amphibians and reptiles since I was a little kid. Now I have a wild caught spotted salamander that I rescued from someone who was going to kill it.
So as a kid growing up in northern NY (between the catskills and the adirondacks) I always had a fascination with amphibians, and reptiles. My mom, to this day (I'm 35 now) still tells me about how I'd always have a frog, toad, turtle or salamander in my hands when we were out. My uncle had a camp on a lake that you needed a boat to get to, and I spent many weekends in the woods flipping over rocks, logs, or just wading through shallow water catching all types of critters. Most of the time I would keep them in a critter carrier and then release them before we left to head home. There was one time I caught 3 garter snakes and put them in my critter carrier and brought them home. My mom lost her mind because she has a fear of snakes. I also let those snakes go after a little while of observing them. Down the street from where I grew up there was a small vernal pool that was notorious for tadpoles. I would scoop some up, raise them into frogs/toads, and then release them. I kept a baby snapping turtle that I found near a pond for a few weeks until I finally let it go. Kept painted turtles, but they always seemed to escape the outdoor cages I'd try to rig together as a kid.
One time at my uncles camp my grandfather was going through a woodpile to organize it and he came across a yellow spotted salamander (ambystoma maculatum). Knowing my love for salamanders he immediately brought it to me. I must have been about 7 or 8 at the time. I put it in my critter carrier, but unlike other times I didn't release this one before leaving for the weekend. It was the first time I had ever seen a salamander like this, so I was extremely excited about it. I wanted to enjoy it for a while. I brought it home, and kept it in my parents basement. The basement was nice because it was cool and had some water leaks, and multiple types of spiders and pill bugs scurrying along the floor. Well, I forgot to put the lid on the cage one day and the salamander escaped! After about 2 weeks of it being lost in the basement I ended up finding it in a small area between the washer and the shower where it got quite damp. It seemed to really like that spot. I let it live in the basement, and it was always nice and fat, and seemingly kept the insect population in the basement a bit lower than usual. It seemed happy in the basement so me, my mom, and my dad were all fine with it wandering around down there. Occasionally we would go into the basement and find it just wandering around. We wouldn't disturb it, and just let it do it's thing. Of course I would sit there and watch it until it went back into hiding. It remained in the basement for 2 years.
One day I decided to bring the salamander outside with me into the yard while I played. I lost track of it and never saw it again. Ever since then I have been on the hunt for these salamanders every time I'm out in the woods. Looking through leaves, logs, rocks, mud, anywhere I could think of that they could be hiding. I've kept my eye out for them during breeding season near what I believe to be vernal pools, and have never had any luck.
Now to the current situation. I rescued a spotted salamander from my fiance's parents house which was just walking along their sidewalk (they live in heavily wooded area). My fiance's father has an irrational fear of snakes and salamanders and was being rough with it, when her mother rescued it, and kept it in a box for me. We ended up picking up the salamander and putting it in a 10 gallon tank I bought just for this salamander. We have now had it for 3 days, and I've been stocking up on worms and pill bugs to feed it. I've been trying to hand feed it worms, but it doesn't seem to want to take them. I'm assuming this is due to being stressed out from almost being killed, and then being put into a tank. I'm really hoping that the salamander didn't suffer any internal damage before being rescued. It seems healthy and doesn't seem to have any external wounds or anything like that. The tank has moist dirt, and some leaves from outside, some moss, and a few other hiding spots. I have also been occasionally misting it to keep the surface damp since the spotted salamander needs the moisture.
Sorry for the long introduction, but I felt it was necessary to share a bit of my story with you all. I look forward to any advice given on these forums.
The TLDR version: I've enjoyed amphibians and reptiles since I was a little kid. Now I have a wild caught spotted salamander that I rescued from someone who was going to kill it.
So as a kid growing up in northern NY (between the catskills and the adirondacks) I always had a fascination with amphibians, and reptiles. My mom, to this day (I'm 35 now) still tells me about how I'd always have a frog, toad, turtle or salamander in my hands when we were out. My uncle had a camp on a lake that you needed a boat to get to, and I spent many weekends in the woods flipping over rocks, logs, or just wading through shallow water catching all types of critters. Most of the time I would keep them in a critter carrier and then release them before we left to head home. There was one time I caught 3 garter snakes and put them in my critter carrier and brought them home. My mom lost her mind because she has a fear of snakes. I also let those snakes go after a little while of observing them. Down the street from where I grew up there was a small vernal pool that was notorious for tadpoles. I would scoop some up, raise them into frogs/toads, and then release them. I kept a baby snapping turtle that I found near a pond for a few weeks until I finally let it go. Kept painted turtles, but they always seemed to escape the outdoor cages I'd try to rig together as a kid.
One time at my uncles camp my grandfather was going through a woodpile to organize it and he came across a yellow spotted salamander (ambystoma maculatum). Knowing my love for salamanders he immediately brought it to me. I must have been about 7 or 8 at the time. I put it in my critter carrier, but unlike other times I didn't release this one before leaving for the weekend. It was the first time I had ever seen a salamander like this, so I was extremely excited about it. I wanted to enjoy it for a while. I brought it home, and kept it in my parents basement. The basement was nice because it was cool and had some water leaks, and multiple types of spiders and pill bugs scurrying along the floor. Well, I forgot to put the lid on the cage one day and the salamander escaped! After about 2 weeks of it being lost in the basement I ended up finding it in a small area between the washer and the shower where it got quite damp. It seemed to really like that spot. I let it live in the basement, and it was always nice and fat, and seemingly kept the insect population in the basement a bit lower than usual. It seemed happy in the basement so me, my mom, and my dad were all fine with it wandering around down there. Occasionally we would go into the basement and find it just wandering around. We wouldn't disturb it, and just let it do it's thing. Of course I would sit there and watch it until it went back into hiding. It remained in the basement for 2 years.
One day I decided to bring the salamander outside with me into the yard while I played. I lost track of it and never saw it again. Ever since then I have been on the hunt for these salamanders every time I'm out in the woods. Looking through leaves, logs, rocks, mud, anywhere I could think of that they could be hiding. I've kept my eye out for them during breeding season near what I believe to be vernal pools, and have never had any luck.
Now to the current situation. I rescued a spotted salamander from my fiance's parents house which was just walking along their sidewalk (they live in heavily wooded area). My fiance's father has an irrational fear of snakes and salamanders and was being rough with it, when her mother rescued it, and kept it in a box for me. We ended up picking up the salamander and putting it in a 10 gallon tank I bought just for this salamander. We have now had it for 3 days, and I've been stocking up on worms and pill bugs to feed it. I've been trying to hand feed it worms, but it doesn't seem to want to take them. I'm assuming this is due to being stressed out from almost being killed, and then being put into a tank. I'm really hoping that the salamander didn't suffer any internal damage before being rescued. It seems healthy and doesn't seem to have any external wounds or anything like that. The tank has moist dirt, and some leaves from outside, some moss, and a few other hiding spots. I have also been occasionally misting it to keep the surface damp since the spotted salamander needs the moisture.
Sorry for the long introduction, but I felt it was necessary to share a bit of my story with you all. I look forward to any advice given on these forums.
