Red-Backed Salamanders as Pets?

[Aaron Chris]

Hello everyone. A few weeks back I had the pleasure of purchasing two Red Eft Newts from a pet-store. I had a few issues with getting them to eat but after a lot of help from many great people on these forums I found proper food for the Efts and they are doing wonderfully. However, that is not the purpose of this thread. A good friend of mine saw my two Newts and was interested in getting some sort of Salamander or Newt as his own, so I said I'd help him look into it. He doesn't think he's ready for Newt s yet (not sure why) so I suggested he get a Red-Backed Salamander. For those who don't know what they are they are smallish Salamanders with grey-black bellies, sides and heads with a red stripe down their back.

I was just wondering if they would actually make a good pet or not. I have never seen them in Pet-Stores, but I've seen at least 600 in my life in the wild (no joke, I can't go for a walk in the woods without seeing dozens )
Seeing as they are not in pet-stores would there be legal stipulations of catching one in the wild and raising it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone.

 

[Aaron Chris]

Here is a picture of said Salamander taken from Google.

I believe if they are females they will have a black back.

 

[FrogEyes]

The legal requirements are different in every state and province, and since you don't indicate where you are, the question is impossible to properly answer. Given that you're Canadian and see many redbacks in the wild, I would surmise that you're Ontarian, in which case I believe there are no restrictions on keeping them.

This is a legal question, and should be in the legislative forum. There are other threads there which likely answer this question in more detail, mainly with respect to tiger salamanders [which ARE protected in ON].

Redbacks are actually reasonably common in the pet trade. You likely don't encounter them because it doesn't make a lot of sense to import and sell something to people who can go and catch the same thing for free. I say "import" because animals in the pet trade are mostly bough en masse from a small number of suppliers who provide a large variety of animals. It's rarely economical to buy small numbers or single species, and sources are normally not local.

 

[FrogEyes]

There are no sexual differences in color. Redbacks have normal, all-red, and lead-back color phases which vary in proportion from one place to another. Male plethodontids normally have an obvious mental gland which females lack. This will resemble a disk or thickened area beneath the skin of the throat/chin.

 

[Aaron Chris]

Yeah, I'm from Ontario, sorry for not clearing that up. Thanks for your help with the legal situation, I didn't think it would be illegal to care for them if caught in the wild since they're EVERYWHERE, but you never know

Thanks for your help!

 

[Bandida]

These little guys are so cute. I have 5 in my 40 Gal terarrium. The only time I see them is when my fogger has been on all night (in which the fog soakes everything) And when the lights are also off. I'd say they are good pets.:talker:

 

[Kaysie]

The only reason why they would make poor pets is that they're small, not very social, and have somewhat specialized diets (they really like ants and spiders!).

But they're not all that much worse than any other species. And their care is quite similar to Noto efts, so tell your friend that's no excuse.