What did my kids catch?

[lori]

Hi,
I live in Northwestern Washington state, and my children went next door to an algae filled pond to catch tadpoles, but what they came back with look like the mud puppies that I knew when I grew up in Ohio, only about two inches long. I would like to let the kids keep and observe them, but do not want to without knowing how to take care of them properly. They are now in a tank with a few largish rocks to hide behind in water that is from the pond they were caught in (it is very green and murky) What do I feed these little guys? Do I put them in clean fresh water? Will they eventually grow into salamanders? Please Help!

 

[joan]

If you could provide a picture, that would make identification easier.

Young salamanders eat all sorts of aquatic insects/larvae. You could try large daphnia, blackworms, bloodworms, etc.

 

[mark]

Lori it is illegal to keep any native reptiles and amphibians in our lovely state. I'm not scolding you but it is something you should you should be aware of. What color are they? Do they still have gills. There are 3 possibilities in our area, Rough Skin Newt, Long-toed Salamander and Northwestern Salamander.