Question: Rescued Wild Salamander, Unknown Species.

[MarieKarma1311]

Hello all, today was the long awaited arrival of our winner wood. As my family and I were unloading the cedar logs i noticed a small black critter running for shelter among the chaos. I managed to pick him up and run him inside to an empty tank I had. I have no idea what species he is, or what his care requirements will be. I couldn't let him die outside seeing as he was transported from the forests into a very dry and rocky environment with no trees or shrubbery. I could use all the help and advice I can get!

Here is a photo of the little guy, who I have decided to name Cedar.

He is approximately two inches in length.

 

[Blackbun]

Hi Kylee, I've just had a search through the Google thing and come up with this possibility.

Long-toed Salamander Ambystoma macrodactylum



ODFW, Oregon Wildlife Species: Amphibians

Enjoy Cedar and enjoy learning from him and about him.

 

[Emily83]

Hi Kylee,
I'm in a similar situation in that I've found a salamander too. I've only had him/her for a couple of days, but I've found out that finding the right environment seems to reduce the most stress. I put a fir bark substrate in my aquarium from Petsmart and my salamander seems happy with this-no longer hiding in the corner or trying to climb out the side.

 

[MarieKarma1311]

Thank you Bunny, I did some searching on Google as well and have come to the same conclusion. Cedar is doing much better this morning, he seemed happier after being in a moist environment rather than inside a bone dry log. Luckily he has nearly the exact same care requirements as my morphed axolotl salamander, so I think he will do just fine after he adjusts to captivity.

 

[MarieKarma1311]

Hi Kylee,
I'm in a similar situation in that I've found a salamander too. I've only had him/her for a couple of days, but I've found out that finding the right environment seems to reduce the most stress. I put a fir bark substrate in my aquarium from Petsmart and my salamander seems happy with this-no longer hiding in the corner or trying to climb out the side.

Thank you for the advice Emily, I have Cedar inside of a ten gallon vivarium with damp paper towels on the floor, loads of leaf litter, branches, a few large stones, Styrofoam cup hides, and a very shallow water dish right now. I will get him some soil to burrow in as soon as possible. He was climbing around quite a bit this morning so I think he has calmed down over night.

I'm happy to hear that your rescued salamander is doing better!

Here is a better shot of Cedar that I got this morning. ( the orange and blue colors are lighting )

 

[Blackbun]

Great news. No doubt the little chap will take a few days to settle in to his new environment knowing where it's safe in there or at least he feels safe. Plus getting used to your routines and expectations. Now, all you need is a mate. Please keep us posted. I've not seen one like this before or even heard of one and I do spend time over there, mainly NJ and TX. Pretty.

 

[MarieKarma1311]

I will, I am very excited to learn more about Cedar as well. I cut off a very tiny piece of earth worm and dropped it in his enclosure just now, he ran after the food and thrashed it around quite dramatically before gobbling it up, I take it as a good sign.

 

[sde]

Beautiful salamander! As already stated, it is a Long toed salamander, and judging by your location he is the Columbia long toed salamander, Ambystoma macrodactylum columbianum, though you're right on the line of the two ssp so i'm not totally sure.
You can keep him just like a tiger salamander. It might take some time for him to adjust to captivity (or not, judging by your last post), but once acclimated this species make wonderful pets!
Once you get soil in the tank, i would suggest adding a few pieces of wood or bark that lay flat on the surface of the soil, as in my experience they really like to hide in the soil just beneath surfaces like that.
Keep us updated!

I've not seen one like this before or even heard of one and I do spend time over there, mainly NJ and TX.

That's because this species does not extend past western Montana, they are limited to the western US

 

[MarieKarma1311]

Thank you for the more specific species identification and vivarium advice!

I have a few other questions that I haven't been able to find myself while researching long toes.

1) Is there any way I would be able to tell the age of my salamander?

2) How can I tell the sex of my salamander?

3) what is the best temperature range for a long toed and would that temperature range need to be adjusted with seasonal change?

4) do they require same species companions or are they solitary animals?

Thank you!

 

[sde]

1) For age, i'm not sure.

2) For telling the sex, males have a longer tail, a larger cloaca, and are typically thinner than females. If you provide a photo of him from directly above with his body and tail straightened, and (if possible) a photo of his underside (particularly his cloaca), then i could try and sex him for you.

3) Temperature should be kept below around 75 F or so if possible, and above 32 F would be ideal. If you have a garage or basement then that would be a great place for him, as it would get colder in the winter (but not too cold, usually) and not get too warm in the summer.

4) They don't require companions and are perfectly fine on their own. If you want a companion, i would suggest looking around for any that people may be looking to rehome. Otherwise, i recommend collecting one from Oregon, as it technically isn't legal to collect them in Washington Also, if you do decide to get another, I'd suggest getting one of the opposite sex, it would make a fun breeding project

 

[MarieKarma1311]

My room is actually the coolest place in the entire house and it should be extremely easy to keep him in cool weather seeing as it's been between 30 and 40°F at night for about two weeks now. Yay for winter weather!

I don't plan on getting any more, I just wanted to make sure that he doesn't require any partners, that would be a rather cruel thing to deny him of if his species needed constant company.

Also I would love your opinion on his weight, I'm not sure how "skinny" or "fat" he should look. I know they are a more slender species but I want to make sure Cedar appears to have an appropriate weight.

I have a few photos. . Some are better than others. He was way to squirmy to get a photo of his cloaca, but hopefully you can help me out with what these photos show.

 

[sde]

Sounds like he is fine temperature wise then!

Cedar looks a healthy weight. Most the ones i find are about the same.

Just looked back on your original post, and noticed you said he is around 2 inches, which would mean he is a juvenile. Sorry for missing that! They reach sexual maturity at 1.9-2.1 inches snout to vent (cloaca) length. I can't tell his sex, i think he may be too young.

 

[MarieKarma1311]

Okay, thank you for all of the help, I appreciate the advice and second opinions. I will definitely keep everyone updated on Cedars progress and I'll make sure to share photos every so often.

I will continue to call Cedar a "him" for now, maybe in a year we can try to sex him again :happy:

 

[MarieKarma1311]

So I just found my ruler and measured Cedar, he was a tad larger than I had estimated. Cedar is nearly 4 inches long, is this a large size for A. macrodactylum columbianum ? Everything I've been reading says they don't grow over 3 inches in length.

 

[sde]

That's a normal size, just this weekend I found one that was 5 inches (the largest I've seen). Usually though they are more around 4 and 1/2 inches in my experience. Cedar looks to be nearly an adult (judging by his snout to vent length), I'm thinking this spring might be the first time he'd be old enough to breed. That said, I am still not totally sure on gender but I'd guess female.

 

[MarieKarma1311]

Okay, no problem and thank you for the help. :happy:

Here are a few photos of his color marking, thought everyone might enjoy the pictures .