Escape.

[jason]

I feel bad (being new to keeping sallys) i didnt relize how good of excape artist they were . well thismorrning i woke up to 2 missing. and found them dead. I felt bad. its kinda weird though. because in my room where i keep my herps there is pleanty of water. 3 turtle tanks, a container full of tadpole, and there cage. i just wonder why they didnt find a water sorce insted of wantering around the room and dieing. I still have one that i moved to a diffrent container, just hope i secured this one better than the other. bummer

 

[TJ]

Hi Jason. Sorry for your loss.

Take it from me -- somebody who has experienced this (shamefully time and time again) in the more distant past -- you really need to go to some lengths to secure your tanks against escapes.

Not to suggest that you're like I was, but some years ago, when I first started out in this hobby, I received excellent advice on this very subject -- Ralf,

-- but implemented what I learned only in piecemeal fashion -- and my newts suffered the consequences.

I'd advise you to take a close look at (and implement!

) the tips in this article that Jennifer put together:

Preventing Escapes
By Jennifer Macke

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/escape.shtml

 

[sergé]

I used to have a wet towel on the floor in my (salamander) room at all times. If an animal escapes it is very likely to be found there when you go and search for it, as it will also search for a moist place.

 

[TJ]

The wet towel idea is a good one.

I now keep my newts and sals in a room maintained (and to some extent designed) so that there would be few places for an escapee to hide, and so that an escape would thus be detected in time (i.e. prior to desiccation).

The use of duct tape or whatever to seal off crannies in a room is another idea to consider, though care should be taken to ensure the escapee doesn't fall from a shelf or whatever and end up behind the barrier undetected!

The time it takes for a caudate/urodele to dessicate -- whether it be several hours or several days -- really depends on the species. Rough-skinned newts obviously fare better than smooth-skinned sals. It also depends on how dirty/dusty the floor is, the humidity of the room, whether or not an air-conditioner is being used, and other factors.

There's lots that can be done (keeping the room tidy and clean, laying out wet towels, etc.), but nothing beats prevention!

(Message edited by tj on April 13, 2005)

 

[TJ]

Paris, I accidently wrote over your last post (which followed mine) after pressing the edit button instead of the reply button, and then couldn't recover your post and had to erase the whole thing!

Could you please post it again...?

Apologies go out to you!

I promise to make it up to you with some figurines!

Paris was saying something about the importance of not forgetting to put the lid back on tanks properly...


(Message edited by TJ on April 13, 2005)

 

[TJ]

Paris, strike that!

I recovered your post as it had been automatically e-mailed to me. Here it is:

Posted by Paris Reilley on Wednesday, 13 April, 2005 - 09:03:

one thing to remember is that they have all day to poke around and
wiggle out of holes-some can get quite creative with their escpes-tim
can show you his 'tarzan' photo, but there is one thing that is better
than a tight fitting lid and that is putting the lid back on right! i
have had this happen in the past-also if you have a screen lid that is
made of the fiber glass screen then you need to keep the top clear of
plants and furniture that can make contact with it-crickets can eat
through the fiber glass very easily and then presto! your guys can
follow...were these the two lines? those guys are notorious for
climbing glass -my larvae even were known to leave water and climb up
glass -heres the link with the photos

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/16181.html?1096941919

 

[TJ]

And my response:

Exactly! Even the best of preparedness can be undermined by simple carelessness.

Since I moved to my new house in December, I have only had one escape episode. It was due to a hastily and improperly replaced tank lid despite the fact that the tank in question had an 5-cm inner rim that I assumed made it virtually escape-proof. No air tube to climb either.

Four of the five newts (I'll take a pass on naming the species) were immediately found in good condition. The fifth went missing despite my assumption that the room too was virtually escape-proof with almost no nowhere to hide.

This was on a Saturday. I laid out a wet towel and spent hours and hours intensively searching the room, and everything in it over and over, and even rooms where the newt could not possibly have gotten to. I did the same on Sunday and even on Monday when I was finally convinced there was no hope remaining.

My conclusion: the poor newt was consumed by one of my dogs

Get this though: on Tuesday, I got a excited call at work from my wife to tell me that the newt was found -- in the middle of the room! -- dusty but in surprisingly good condition.

I have yet to solve this mystery and not a day has gone by since then when I haven't thought about it

(Message edited by TJ on April 13, 2005)

 

[jason]

Thanks Tim, Paris, and Sergé Bogaerts
FOr the tips and information. Clever little animals. ive had plenty of escapes with snakes but most the time they are easy to fine. I had to move everything out the room to find these little guys. I like the towel idea ill have to remember that. As for my 3rd sally i made sure to better set up a way he will not escape. i put him in a long plastic (show box) with womens hose over it. (i use this method with my mealworms keeps all my bettles in so should keep him in.) just something temporary till i get my 50 gallon fixed (needs a new side) .
on another note anyone here sell two-lineds? id like to get somemore know that i know the way to keep them from escaping.

 

[william]

my first newt, a paddle tailed newt also escaped, id didn't know that they could climb over an overhang of glass. he must of been out for a day or so, and i was very lucky to find him in the middle of the floor, since the room is full of dark places. i hadn't noticed that he had escaped because my tank which is 6 foot long and covered with boulders on the bottom so i didn't see him that often anyway, so i'd say a tank with hiding places but not to many is also important

 

[paris]

two lines are far too common to sell- and far too few people like them, ive had a self sustaining colony for about 5 years now and they are into their 4th breeding, last year i had a bumper crop of babies-too many to raise up and so few wanted them, i sent 11 morphed ones out to another member and put the rest back in with their parents-its a bit of a search-but i can dig around in there and see if i've got some to spare (provided their parents didnt eat them

) all i need for a stable colony is about 11 and im sure i have more than that in there. all i ask is that you pay overnight shipping.

 

[jason]

Sounds good. let me know something. and cost of shipping. I appriciate that. just shoot me a PM or something .

 

[rachel]

I believed Sid, my JFB had escaped the day after I got him. I searched the tank, even going so far as to remove all of the decor. The water inside the waterfall was pretty murky, and so I was surprised when he crawled out of it as I was holding it up and frantically searching under it.

 

[dani]

i thought one of my C.O.s had escaped as i couldnt see him anywhere in the tank, and i checked all his usual elusive hideaways. the tank in question is on top of a large computer desk that has a network of wires behind it. taking the flashlight to look behind where shui could have fallen i realized that most of the wires were of the black and red or orange variety. yeah, try spotting a firebelly in that! anyway, he ended up being in a new clever hiding place in his tank, and had come out to see what all the commotion was about.