Aneides lugubris 'Arboreal salamander'

[Smokehound714]

Found on a recent collection trip, she's since calmed down.

 

[SamuraiSid]

Arboreal Salamander... Never thought I would have seen the day.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Smokehound714]

Yeah they're awesome. Very very mean though, lol. She tries to eat me. They have a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, a bite from one of these is like having several small shards of glass smashing into you!

 

[AndrewBiddar]

Yeah they're awesome. Very very mean though, lol. She tries to eat me. They have a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, a bite from one of these is like having several small shards of glass smashing into you!

whats its size?

 

[Smokehound714]

whats its size?

adults often reach 4" from snout, to vent, largest specimens will reach 7-7.5 inches in total length. Fairly large.

 

[Cavedweller]

These guys are so cool! I wish I could keep them, but it's way too hot here.

Can we see a photo of the setup you're putting her in?

 

[Biollantefan54]

Wow! No idea they had teeth like that. You have all the cool animals over there!

 

[Entomancer]

These guys are so cool! I wish I could keep them, but it's way too hot here.

Can we see a photo of the setup you're putting her in?

On that note, I dunno if trying to keep these like ambystomatids (moist soil + cover objects in a smallish, flat terrarium) is a good idea. They get larger than the vast majority of US salamanders, and they really are highly arboreal; they prefer overwintering in the crevices of old oak trees, often dozens of feet off the ground. I would probably put it in an 12 x 18 exo terra, with a background and lots of cork bark tubs propped up against the back.

It is also worth noting that they are some of the "most terrestrial" of salamanders, and probably do not need to be kept as moist as many other plethodontids. If you keep it as moist as it is in the photo, you may incur a bacterial infection; I did the same thing to a frog once that I thought would prefer more moist conditions, and once it started showing signs of problems, it sickened so quickly that I could barely do anything about it, and it is now a member of the preserved vertebrate collection at my school.

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

Boy, you weren't kidding!

http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/images/alugubristeethmevj310.jpg

 

[Smokehound714]

The substrate is not excessively moist, and the enclosure has adequate ventilation.

The flash from the camera just makes it look sopping wet.

You're correct, too much will cause problems. (however springtails and micro isopods will virtually eliminate this problem)

these, along with garden slender salamanders, are the only plethodontids that thrive in captivity, most others are subject to heat stress and simply die in high temps. both estivate in summer, arboreals will simply become inactive and wait until temperatures drop, but can be found active during the middle of summer!

Garden slender salamanders burrow into heavy clay and seal themselves off, coating the walls of the chamber in slime, like an earthworm. I've found that batrachoseps major major does not burrow several feet deep, as evident from the many specimens I've found in rotting wood and lumps of clay in my backyard. I'm quite experienced with the plethodontids in my area.

 

[jecraque]

Plethodon sp. do pretty well, out here. Several are protected, of course, but the handful of dirt-common species are not too difficult.