Terrarium furnishing suggestions for A. laterale?

[kenzie]

My blue-spotted salamander has been destroying all of the plants in his terrarium.

He has happily uprooted moss and grass, preferrring to dig them up and hide there instead of hiding under the bark I provided for that purpose.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd like to keep live plants in there, but my amphibious little friend seems to thwart me at every turn (ack, I've been thwarted be a salamander...

)

He's currently in a 2.5 gallon aquarium and has no 'roomates', and I've been using a sandy soil mix for the substrate. He's a tiny thing, just under 3 inches long (with tail). I anticipate that he will grow to about 5 inches, though, and I have a spare 5 gallon aquarium he can move into if his current home proves too small. Or might it be too small already? Perhaps that's why he keeps mauling the plants...?

 

[kaysie]

thats what ambystomids do. they're burrowers. they live underground. make little tunnels for him instead. take a paper towel roll, cut it in two. put it down into the soil at a slight angle (like an animal burrow) and cover it with dirt and put some plants over it. the soil should be more of a forest soil consistancy, not so much sandy. try moving him to the larger aquarium too. it's probably a little cramped in the small one.