Trying to save a long toed salamander, don't have a clue.

[bean]

Hello, I live in Canada and found a salamander in my backyard a couple of weeks ago. I decided to save him and show him to my 12 yr old son who asked if we could keep him. I decided that it would be a good idea at least over the winter as we don't live near any water and it gets very cold already here. I have him in an aquarium with organic dirt (mud) I bought at the pet store and I have tried to make a place under a rock for him to hide but he will not go there. He sits in the corner where there is a little water and dosen't move much. Also I have not seen him eat. I have tried putting tiny crickets in and holding meal worms with tweezers I then drop the worm in after awhile and later find the worm still there dead or see it has crawled off uneaten. I am very concerned I would feel awful if he died when I was trying to save him. Any suggestions on how to set up his home for him and how to get him to eat would be great. He looks like an adult and is a long toed Salamander common to western Alberta Canada. I no nothing of this kind of animal, I have always had fur covered pets in the past.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

 

[Linus]

Lets start with the substrate.. when you say "mud", that's not the ideal consistency. If it is wet enough that water can be squeezed out of it that is a no-no. You don't want it to be bone dry, but also not drenched. As for hides you might want to try a plastic cup cut in half if that's all you have, more ideally a cork bark or any type of bark hide you can find at a local pet shop.

Care should be similar to that of a Tiger salamander
Axolotls - Metamorphosed & Tiger Salamanders

Upload some pictures if you can! They always help.
Perhaps someone with more experience will pitch in after me.

Good luck!
Eric.

 

[Linus]

I'm not sure if you have provided any lighting for him, he will need no lighting. Also any water that you use should be dechlorinated! So please grab some dechlorinator at the pet store, put that in a spray bottle and use that to mist the substrate. It sounds like you might have to start over with the substrate. Grab top soil/coconut fiber at the pet pet store. Other than that, keep any soap/aerosols, anything like that away from him, and try not to touch him. There are bacteria/salts in our skin that will harm the salamanders skin.

 

[bean]

Thank you very much. I will head to the pet store tonight to get him better soil and water. We bought a light but couldn't hook it up so we will leave it off. I will also look for some natural things for him to hide under. We never touch him I'm still to scared and I figured it wasn't a good idea for his skin so I told my son not to. Thank you again very much.

 

[Linus]

No problem! He sounds a little stressed, just keep him cool and dark until you can get him eating, try not to stress him out too much once the tank substrate gets the overhaul. How big is he? I'd try crickets smaller than his head (just let him hunt), red wigglers/trout worms, maybe waxworms if nothing else. He'll eat when he's ready as long as he's happy!