Breeding and housing certain species of salamanders

[eve]

Hello, I am new to this wonderful site. I am a high school animal science teacher in the process of converting my notes into powerpoint presentations, and updating them at the same time. I cannot for the life of me find any information on the Web on how to breed certain salamanders in captivity, whether in a lab situation or elsewhere. I am looking for axolotls, Necturus, Japanese Firebellied newts, and two or three other salamanders that are commonly seen in pet or lab situations. I'd also be interested in housing specifics (everything I've seen is very general and vague), such as pH, water temperature, tank size, individual or groupings, etc. Can anyone point me in the right, clear cut directions? Thanks! Eve

 

[paris]

use this section of caudata.org
http://www.caudata.org/cc/
it has sections to chose from about your topics, species specific stuff as well as general info

 

[jennifer]

The link from Paris is good (

), but it's still going to be mostly generalizations. I think you will not find the kind of specific "directions" that you are seeking anywhere. For axolotls, you might find some here:
http://www.indiana.edu/~axolotl/axolotls/shortguide/guide.html
http://www.axolotl.org/breeding.htm

Other species that are used in labs (Xenopus, for example) are often "bred" using hormonal induction. This may apply to Pleurodeles waltl too, I'm not sure.

Nobody breeds Necturus, to the best of my knowledge. The ones used in labs are all collected in the wild. JFB are bred by hobbyists (not labs), and that means that nobody spells out a "protocol", it's hit or miss.