New plethodontid setup

[Willlis]

Just thought I would share photos of my new plethodontid setup I made.

 

[froggy]

Looks good, but perhaps add some leaflitter on the land and the boundary between the land and water. Most plethodontid habitat I've seen photos of has plenty of leaflitter. Which species is it for; that will help decide if other modifications need to be made (flowing water etc)?

Also, make sure you can keep the water clean. You can probably siphon water out of the water section, but it might be worth installing a (sealable) pipe at the back left that you can use to flush through the drainage layer. Lots of pleth species are very sensitive to water quality, particularly the stream or seepage dwelling species, so make sure you can remove stale water sitting underneath the land.

C

 

[FrogEyes]

I have questions or concerns in a related vein: the vast majority of all salamanders are plethodontids, which means two things here: 1) a "plethodontid" setup is really no more specific than a "salamander setup", and 2) the diversity of plethodontids is such that what is ideal for one is terrible for another. Habitats range from arboreal in bromeliads or under moss matts in cloud forest, to lowland tropical terrestrial, to subterranean cool water, to mountain streams or their spray zones, to boreal bogs, lowland streams, etc. What I see here would suit some but not all streamside or bog habitat Eurycea, Desmognathus, maybe Pseudotriton or Gyrinophilus, maybe Hemidactylium. It would not suit Aneides, Ensatina, Hydromantes, most Plethodon, nor indeed most other plethodontids.

 

[froggy]

That's very true! It would certainly not suit bolitoglossines! I had kind of jumped straight to the assumption that it was for one of the species to which it would be vaguely suited...

C

 

[Willlis]

Thanks for the input. What is not clear from the picture is that the vast majority of the substrate is actually decomposing leaf litter. I will be adding more leaf litter whenever the snow melts enough to get to it. I'd like to add some more bark and or cork bark pieces, this is just what I had laying around. Same with the leaf litter, it's what I collected in the fall and have kept in a bin regularly dampened to maintain the micro fauna for feeding needs. The cage also has a false floor with screen siliconed in place over pea gravel, this comprises the bottom 2.5 inches of the cage. On top of that is the substrate, a mix of soil, coco fiber husk, and mostly decomposing leaves. The cage has an increase substrate depth from front at about 1 inch to the back with about 5 inches. The rocks on the right side are angled down into the substrate. The pool on the front right is about 1.5 inches deep and is changed via siphoning. With other cages that I have done like in the past the water quality has been maintained easily with occasional water changes. I setup this cage for some ensatinas. The cage is in the my cold reptile room at a temperature of about 60 degrees F.

 

[Willlis]

wow reading over my response makes me realize why I shouldn't type things while 3 children under 5 are running wild. Typing=hard

 

[Lia]

Thanks for the input. What is not clear from the picture is that the vast majority of the substrate is actually decomposing leaf litter. I will be adding more leaf litter whenever the snow melts enough to get to it. I'd like to add some more bark and or cork bark pieces, this is just what I had laying around. Same with the leaf litter, it's what I collected in the fall and have kept in a bin regularly dampened to maintain the micro fauna for feeding needs. The cage also has a false floor with screen siliconed in place over pea gravel, this comprises the bottom 2.5 inches of the cage. On top of that is the substrate, a mix of soil, coco fiber husk, and mostly decomposing leaves. The cage has an increase substrate depth from front at about 1 inch to the back with about 5 inches. The rocks on the right side are angled down into the substrate. The pool on the front right is about 1.5 inches deep and is changed via siphoning. With other cages that I have done like in the past the water quality has been maintained easily with occasional water changes. I setup this cage for some ensatinas. The cage is in the my cold reptile room at a temperature of about 60 degrees F.

That looks great, will you see them at all or they mostly hide?

 

[FrogEyes]

It looks far too wet for ensatinas. They do better with a deep pile of rocks or bark and a layer of litter or moss on top. This allows them to avoid both excess moisture and dryness by moving up and down in the pile.

 

[Aneides]

As Frogeyes said, way to wet for ensatinas. They would also prefer a habitat similar to what Frogeyes described. They are one of the pleths that can live in a drier setup than usual, but they are still pleths.

Aneides

 

[Willlis]

It looks far too wet for ensatinas. They do better with a deep pile of rocks or bark and a layer of litter or moss on top. This allows them to avoid both excess moisture and dryness by moving up and down in the pile.

It is pretty wet now, but I prefer to start cages too wet than the other way around. I will be adding more bark to allow for more of a pile with more choices and more leaf litter is on the way, as soon as this snow melts. Thanks again for the input.


As far as seeing them goes, I don't really mind if I see them all that often as long as they are happy and healthy. Plus if they act like other nonambystomids they will be out cruising for food at night.