Microchips in salamanders?

[chris]

i went to a local pet store chain here in ohio to try to find me a couple of cfb and was asking the manager about obtaining some and he said he couldn't at the moment. then i asked him about obtaining a tiger salamander and he says he stopped carrying them because they are now being required to "chip" them and it leads them to be more expense. does anyone know if there is there any truth to this in the U.S.? just seemed kinda fishy.

 

[edward]

Ohio has regulations regarding the possession of herps which when I last checked they only required the microchipping of snakes and turtles with P.I.T. (passive integrated transponders), but it is possible that they now include tiger salamanders. You will need to contact the DNR for more information.
See http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/PDF/pub03.pdf for the contact information.
The literature around pit tags does list using them (if I remember correctly) for newts as small as 1.5 grams.

Ed