Damp kitchen towel or not

[Badmungo]

Hello.

I have a coulpe of diffrent spiecis of salamanders and i have been thinkin about the best substrate for them

To my Ambystoma spp i have pretty much dirt as substrate and its seems to work fine. They borrow and like to lie around in pipes i heve dug down for them.

But to my Salamandra sspp i been thinkin of using damp kitchen towel. This for a couple of reasons. For one i have an individ that doesent look all too well at the moment and o want to have really good observation on him.

I also read that some people have them on damp kitchen towel all the time. Is this a good idea? and can i use that method on other spiecis than salamandra spp.

Off course i'll have barks and things like that to give them something to hide under. But i was just wonering about the possibility to keep them permenently on damp kitchen towel.

Pros and cons? And whats spiecis can it work (best) for.

Best regards

Fredrik

 

[IanF]

It works well for most salamanders, and in the case of Salamandras the only draw back I could see is that it wouldn't be too natural and wouldn't look good, both of which are your own personal preference. So I'd say you could use it long-term, I can't think of anything that would cause a problem.

If you have an unwell Salamander it's particularily helpful, just make sure you keep it well sprayed.


Hope this helps,
Ian

 

[Jan]

It is not a very naturalistic set-up, but yes it can be done and especially as a hospital set-up for observational purposes, treating infections, etc.

Use moistened unbleached paper toweling that is discarded every couple of days or sooner if soiled. And as you said, provide plenty of hides such as fake stone caves so that they can feel secure.

Ambystoma sp. can also be maintained in this fashion, but again it is not naturalistic and doesn't provide for their burrowing nature.

 

[Badmungo]

Thanks for quick and friendly answers!

Yes, i guess it woudnt look to realistic but if the salamander dosent mind, i dont mind the lack of realistm.

My own thoughts is that itsa easier to clean and monitor feases and so on. Espesially if you have many terrariums.

So you even think it would work on Ambystoma? My tend to consume o lot of time in pipes like i said or under pieces of bark. Not so often downdeep in the dirt. And pipes and bark i still would have to have, eaven if i use damp kitchen towels instead of dirt.

I assume that the paper should be unbleached offcourse. Anything else to think of to make chure not to hurt their skin?

More opinions are welcome. Now we have two positive ones. Any Negative?

Fredrik

 

[Azhael]

It should be fine for Salamandras, although you need to keep the hygiene of the set-up cause this animals produce quite a bit of waste.

I don´t think it´s apropriate for Ambystomatids because they are borrowers...denying them the possibility to borrow might be stresfull for them.

I use kitchen paper for my juvenile newts, and for my adult L.vulgaris, and it works fine, it makes feeding easier and specially controlling if food is eaten.

Whichever species you use this method for make sure to provide hiding places(several is better).

 

[Badmungo]

OK.

Thanks.

I can understand that you shoudent deny Ambystomatids their opportiunity to dig. Especially my A.maculatum and A.lateralis seam to dig tunnels in the dirt and can be quiet hard to find sometimes.

That said, i dont see any diffrence in my A.mavortium sspp "burrowingbehavior" compared to my Salamandra salamandra sspp. They all seam to behave in the same way. Prefarlby lying in a pipe or under some bark or moss. Never deep down i dirt. Not like A.maculatum. Altough they have enough depth to do so (20 cm).

But i will try the "damp kitchen towel style" in one of the Salamandra salamandra terrariums. And then see the result. But to my Ambystoma i keep the "dirtstyle".

Thanks for good and quick answers. And sorry for my bad spelling. Im not sloppy. Im just swedish.

Fredrik