Question: What is a good salamander/newt for me?

[Travisdjtg]

i have been thinking of getting a salamander, what should i get?
im looking for a aquatic species that lives in creeks and streams.
could somone give just a small list? so i can research them.
do i make any sense

 

[Neuter]

Chinese fire bellies are the most popular one in the commercial pet trade, to fit that description. They may spend some time on land but most of their time in water. A small rock which breaks the surface is fine for one.

Axotols are fully aquatic, but a little harder to find.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

A good hardy one is Pachytriton labiatus aka paddletail newt. This newt actually prefers a little current. Although if you choose this species I would advise you to only begin with one as they tend to be very aggresive towards other newts. Here is a link to the caresheet for you, have a read and see what you think.

http://caudata.org/cc/species/Pachytriton/Pachytriton.shtml

 

[Azhael]

I think both C.orientalis and P.labiatus are bad choices if you are just beginning. Both are very cheap in petshops, but they ALL are wild caught, and come from China. They usually suffer a lot during the importation and therefore arrive in a horrible state of health, sometimes dying soon after being bought.
I trully recomend you Pleurodeles waltl, as a great starter species, easily available as CB, cheap and easy to maintain.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

I think both C.orientalis and P.labiatus are bad choices if you are just beginning. Both are very cheap in petshops, but they ALL are wild caught, and come from China. They usually suffer a lot during the importation and therefore arrive in a horrible state of health, sometimes dying soon after being bought.
I trully recomend you Pleurodeles waltl, as a great starter species, easily available as CB, cheap and easy to maintain.

To say that ALL C. orientalis and P. labiatus are WC is totally false and misleading, now I will say that the majority of the ones in pet stores are WC but there is no shortage of CB orientalis from members here on this site, even labiatus have been CB albiet in a very small number. The fact that Travis came here first looking for suggestions so he could then do some research should count for something. This obviously is not going to be an impulse buy so I see no reason why these 2 species should be thrown under the bus.

Later,
Justin

 

[jbherpin]

I completely agree with you GWH...As always! Travisdjtg, do you have a preference for a newt or a salamander? Streamside Salamanders are fun and pretty easy to keep(provided a good semi-permanant shoreline set-up can be accomplished). Some can be picky eaters though. Let me know which in particular you are interested in(newts or salamanders) so I can provide a short list of species you might enjoy!

-jbherpin-

 

[Kaysie]

I have never heard of streamside sals being CB, and in fact, I can't recall anyone keeping them in captivity. A. barbouri is not really what comes to mind when I think of 'beginner' sals.

 

[Azhael]

I was talking about petshop animals. I´ve never seen a CB Cynops being sold in a petshop, and have never heard of it. I know people here offer CB C.orientalis, i myself have done it, but it was not what i was talking about. P.labiatus though, you won´t find CB.
I agree it´s very responsible for Travis to gather information before buying, if only more people did the same. I was just trying to keep him from buying in petshops, because the animals you acquire might give you a headache or two.