How do I make a habitat for my red back salamanders? Please help!

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nkoyon

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Koko
I love salamanders and bought four off someone. two are red back and one is all black and the other is grey with orangy red color down the back. Right now i have them in a a small critter trail container( small animal carrier holder). I put a rock (lil flat) and alil water in there. I want to have a bigger habitat for them though. I boy i bought them off put a milworm in there but it looks like one of those tropical ones cuz its real big. Jus as big as the salamnders. I dont kno what to feed them and they havent eatin since I got them (2days). Please help out as to what I should as far as perfect habitat, food, and temp. And if there is anything I am leaving out, please let me know cuz I love animals!!:rolleyes:​
 
Redbacks need small food, like springtails or teeny worms, small slugs. I have some redbacks in what basically amounts to a large springtail culture. They've been growing well in there all winter.
You can order a springtail culture online, or you can look under rocks and logs for small food.
In a pinch, you might try (if you can't find anything else) some blackworms in a shallow dish, though I haven't done that with redbacks.
 
red back salamander habitat help

Thanks so much. The link helped out. Now can I put plants in there with them? IThe website said that the habitat shouldnt be a semi habitat. Do u think it is neccesary to jus put all soil and let be damp or something? As far as insects, the sals are kinda small and alot of insects are bigger than them lol. I can give them any insect smaller than them? Thanks
 
Wow I never heard of springtail cultures before and just looked up on it. That is so amazing. Now the charcoal cant harm the sals if I put a cullture in there? And if the tank is all soil how will that work with the growth of the springtails?
 
You can try to culture the springtails in the tank: put some in one corner and sprinkle a tiny bit of fish food on that corner every day or two. Having some leaf litter in the tank will encourage the springtails to grow on their own. BUT... I would also say you should keep some of the springtails in a separate small container and grow them, so that if they all disappear from the setup you can restock it. Other food options: pinhead crickets, flightless fruit flies, small woodlice.
 
don't keep them in kritter keepers they will escape and die on the floor (it happened to me :()
 
And I really shouldnt worry about the temp. control and sunlight? I actually hace them sitting on my night stand and I am gonna go to the petshop to get some new things for them. When I turn my light on at nite they hide most of the time and they have been climbing up the tank too. CANthe light kill them?? And are all plants safe for them? And top soil is cool to use for their habitat instead of water? Jus make sure the soil is damp? :eek:​
 
Keep them cool, and they don't need much light. They normally live under rocks and logs. Keep the tank out of the sun so it doesn't heat up. The light won't kill them as long as it's not heating up the tank, but they will probably avoid it. I wouldn't say "ALL" plants are OK, but I can't think of anything off hand that would be bad. Don't use a venus fly-trap! :happy:
If they are climbing up the sides, make sure you have a tight lid. Since they are small skinny sals, if there are holes in the top/screen, get some fine mesh fabric and put it in between the cover and the tank. They could squeeze through holes on a regular screen.
Top soil or some kind of soil substrate is the way to go; redbacks are terrestrial and even lay their eggs on land. They aren't aquatic at all. Are you sure that is the species you have (Plethodon cinereus)?
Here is the care sheet/ identification picture of this species:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Plethodon/P_cinereus.shtml
 
Thanks Dawn. I'm going to the pet shop soon and cant ait to get there. I love animals so much and just want the best for the sals. I will check out the link and take yal advice. Thanks so much and I will keep yal posted.

:pThanks much everybody:p​
 
No no lol. I was born in nigeria. Now reside in philly!! I was lookng at some of yal pics yal posted on yal accounts and the habitats are amazing! I wish for mine to look like that one day. I want exotic sals and newts but they are hard to find. alot of pet shops dont even cary sals or newts at all. Where might i be able to get them?​
 
People post in the For Sale section occasionally. You can keep an eye on that.

Maybe you could add the US location to your profile. I was very confused answering this thread about how you could get redbacks.
You can have a "nationality" and a "location." Then when people answer your questions, it gives them a reference to help (what might be available in your country, etc).
 
Oh i didnt know they sale sals and newts on here. But i fixed my profile. I was looking online at the sals and came across this pic that looked just like my sal. The guy i bought them off said that two were redback and one was black and the other was dark grey with orangy red stripe on the back. I was waiting on there tank(10 gallon) and I am suppoe to get it today. Is that big enough?? It should be cuz they arent so big. Right now they are in the crittertrail thats about 8x6. I know its small. I put some dirt and a kinda flat rock in it with them and put ome mini mealworms in there for them to eat. I dont think they are eating though, although they have already disapeared into the dirt and i think htey like. What can i do?
 
They're pretty secretive. You probably won't see them eat. With mine, I just make sure the food is available and I check them occasionally, see they're bigger, and figure they're doing well.
 
I have actually kepy redbacks for a short amount of time. Literally after placing them in a enclosure for a few minutes they began eating termites that I placed in there. So I'd termites are well liked by this species.
 
I can buy termites offline right? But i think i would be too paranoid if they got out lol. I will try that. I put the mini mealworms in there but some of them seam to be in the same spot they were in yeterday. How long can sals go without eating? What are their signs of distress or being sick? I jus wanna make sure there ok.​
 
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