Salamander Bite

[joep]

My nephew is 9 years old and facinated with salamanders, newts, and frogs. With X-Mas comming, I plan on getting him one with a set-up. Question??? Do salamanders and newts bite? (do they draw blood) If he gets bitten, he will loose interest. How big do Salamanders and newts get? If they bite and or get too big, my alternative will be a tree frog. He knows you can't handle them, he just loves watching them.

Thanks for any info

 

[kaysie]

Joe, they have very tiny teeth, or no teeth at all. Only the larger salamanders (sirens, mudpuppies, hellbenders, which are all NOT beginning sals) can draw blood. If his interests are that fleeting that if one bites him, he'll lose interest, you should probably not get him a salamander. Mine bite at me all the time during feeding. on the whole, they dont have the best of eyesight and usually snap at anything that moves, be it your finger, dinner, or tank decorations.

Also, it depends on what species you get to determine 'too big'. the biggest sal that is commonly kept are tiger sals, and they're 8-13 inches on average.

 

[benjamin]

Why don't you chose what you wan't to get him, decide which species you want, mixing species leads to dissaster. Don't mix salamanders with anything else, frogs, toads, fish, or even sals of another species. What type of salamander does he want, mostly terrestrial, half terrestrial half aquatic, or fully aquatic? What size range? Newt bites are nothing to worry about, you barely even feel them and only get them if your hands are in places they shouldn't be (of coarse there are times when it is completely necessary to handle them.) Where do you plan on getting them, pet stores are a bad idea. It's much better to buy salamanders from other hobbyists off this site. Pet store newts are often already half the way to the grave. To choose an animal I recomend going to this page, http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/species.shtml, go from species to species to find out which ones you can best accomodate, most want, and are most accessable. Here are some personal recomendations, Cynops orientalis, Ambystoma mexicanum, and Cynops phyrogaster (Cynops orientalis is the easiest to get your hands on). Many of the commonly kept newts are under the families "salamandridae" and "ambystomatidae". Good luck with what ever you get.

 

[kaysie]

Ben, I'll disagree with you in that Cynops pyrrhogaster would be good because it's getting quite rare in the pet trade these days. However, I will throw in that tiger sals always make interesting, friendly pets.

 

[jesse]

im going to agree with kaysie , tigers are also more forgiving when it comes to temperatures. the one drawback thought would be that tigers burrow and may stay that way for months at a time, and having been a little kid once, you whant to be able to see the animal. personally i think these make the best beginner pets.
1. tiger sal
2. axolotyl
3. cynops orientalis

 

[benjamin]

I think Tiger sals are a little big, especially for someone who's worried about size, I guess I shouldn't have said axolotls either

. Cynops orientalis is the best in my opinion. These animals, are small 3-4 inches, frequently out in the open, and active day and night. The main reasons I say Cynops orientalis are because they are small, and they are more avaliable. If you can handle animals that are around 1 foot long, then both axolotls and tigers are great pets (except for the hiding thing). There are plenty of easy newts in between 4 inches and one foot, they are just not so common in the trade. Some other fairly easy and avaliable, though large, newts are Pachytriton labiatus (±8 inches but terratorial) and Pleurodeles watl (6-12 inches).
So my revised list:
1. Cynops orientalis (chinese firebelly newt)
2. Ambystoma mavortum (tiger salamander)
3. Ambystoma mexicanum (Axolotl)
4. Pleurodeles watl (spanish sharp ribbed newt)
5. Pachytriton labiatus (paddle tail newt)
common names are not always reliable

All these animals can be incorperated into fairly simple set ups so don't worry about having to get an expensive filter or elaborate decorations. Most of the afore mentioned animals, except for the Ambystoma sp., will be perfectly happy in an aquarium with a single rock potruding from the water for land.

 

[pamela]

I agree! I love my Cynops Orientalis, they give me so much pleasure in observing them, and seeing them thrive - also my Axolotls. But no animal should be taken "lightly" as far as care goes. Care for these creatures as you would want to be taken care of yourself - as if you were one of them.

 

[alison]

I love my paddle tail newt! I was going to get a fire belly... but the good petstore in town only had the paddle tail. He is great tho. But make sure that there aren't any possible escape routes in your tank! Man, you'd think that it was Houdini in a newt's body!

A little side note...I know that most pet stores are horrible, but every once in a while you come across one that is truly great, cares about their creatures and knows their stuff!