Found a salamander....what should I do?

[Shizeric]

I've seen several posts of this nature, and I guess now it's my turn. I work at a nature museum, where most of the employees are pretty well educated about animal care. One of my co-workers found a tree frog AND a yellow spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) in a small pool of water in his garage. Seeing that the pool was probably disgusting, he brought it in. I would of course let this little guy go outside, but since the average temperature here in CT has been about 30 degrees (-1 C) this month, I doubt he would survive the night.

Let me know what I should do!

Thanks.

 

[Kaysie]

Any warm spells in the near future?

Otherwise, I'd keep it.

 

[Shizeric]

No, this winter has been brutal.....in fact today is 36 and it feels great. What about the tree frog? I guess we could setup a display here at the museum.

 

[Kaysie]

The tree frog would be worse off in the cold. They need acclimation time, where the salamander would be more active even when it's this cold. How's the snow cover/ground thaw? Is there any way you can let the salamander out near where it was found and it could get under ground easily? If the ground's frozen, obviously that would be a bad idea.

 

[Shizeric]

Ground is frozen solid with a thin layer of snow/ice on top. I setup a quick little tank...I'll post pictures of the animals/enclosure in a second.

 

[Shizeric]

Here is the enclosure...top soil and cocofiber with some driftwood and a water bowl and food bowl.

and the animals:
the frog:

and the salamander:

Any help would be appreciated. I've only cared for Axolotls.

 

[Shizeric]

Another of the frog:

 

[Kaysie]

Frog is gray tree frog, Hyla versicolor.

The set up looks fine for both. In fact, I don't advocate mixed-species tanks, but these two species would be fine cohabitating.

They'll eat the usual live food: crickets and woodlice and earthworms and such.

 

[Shizeric]

I will be digging for food tomorrow! I've got some bloodworms I'm going to put in the disk to see if they'll take them.

Thanks again.

 

[Kaysie]

I think the frog will need more active food, things that climb and fly and such. Dusted crickets would be fine. It might also take waxworms and earthworms.

The salamander looks pretty skinny; get him a Big Mac.

 

[Azhael]

I was going to say that as long as temps are above freezing even if it´s just a few degrees, releasing it would be quite safe, but seeing the state of the animal i´m not so sure. Kaysie is right, it looks in need of a good meal. If you can get some waxworms they would come in very handy right now.