Fire salamander care sheet.

Common Names Fire salamander
Latin Name Salamandra salamandra sp.
Origin Mainland Europe
Adult Size 12cm - 30cm (5- 12 in)
Life Expectancy 20 years
Food Requirements live insects including worms and slugs etc.
Experience Easy

Fire salamanders are one of the most popular species of amphibians to keep because of their bright colors, hardy natural and they can withstand a wide range of temperature and because of their good appetite, always ready for food. These salamanders range in size from about 12cm to 30cm at adult size (5 to 12 inches). Fire salamanders have two glands on their head that can secrete a poison.

They are many different subspecies of fire salamanders with different adults size and appearance. They is also much variation in tail length and shape, thought the tail is generally as long or slightly smaller than the body, and cylindrical in shape of the subspecies. Other areas of the body, such as the head, vary in shape between subspecies and species, and one extreme example is the frontal region of the head in S. s. longirotis, which is almost beak-like in shape. The toes are stubby and blunt when compared to the likes of Tritures, and the tail is blunt and rounded at the tip.

The body coloration is usually a glossy black or very dark brown, and the underside is frequently slightly lighter, with occasional flecks of pale color. Color is the way to tell the different species and subspecies apart and sometimes they shape.

Some of these subspecies are protected in there wild habitat although there is still a small amount of wild caught fire salamanders being available to buy in the UK. Whenever possible buy a captive bred animal as these will be helping saving numbers in the wild and dont carry some of the disease as wild caught ones do.

In the wild fire salamanders are native to cool, damp forest floors of southern Europe and central Europe; they are only normal seen at night or just before as they are nocturnal.

Fire salamanders are very easy to care for. One drawback to this specie is that they can become very territorial so it might be better to house these animals on their own. But in my own experience it is ok to keep them in pairs for there are enough hides for them. Fire salamanders are also not that active and hide for long periods of time they are also nocturnal so they will only come out at night time.

Fire salamanders can be housed in a vivarium that measures 90 x 38 x 30cm (36 x 15 x 12in) or 120 x 38 x 30cm (48 x 15 x 12in) provides plenty of room for alone salamander or a pair this size is also idea for recreating a natural vivarium. But also remember that the large the vivarium the better. The lid of the vivarium should be tight fitting and made out of mesh as to keep the fire salamander in and keep good air movement.

The substrate should be something that is easy to dig in, to allow the salamander to burrow and should hold a large amount of water. The substrates I use in my tanks are a mix of a coconut fiber (eco-earth by zoo med) mixed with some bark chippings but only relay fine. You can also use gravel, topsoil and leaf litter. One top of mine I also add some sphagnum moss as this holds a lot of water and makes the tank look more natural. I then have some live plants In with the salamanders one of the best plants I have found is spider plants I have to keep cutting mine back as they grow too large.

I also have a large water dish in the viv. This is only sallow as the fire salamanders can drown very easy so they also have rocks inside the water to climb out. You should also have at least two hides for each salamander in the viv.

The tank should not go over a max off 25 degrees I try to keep mine below 20 though. One way to keep the viv temp down is to place a fan blowing on the tank. Another way to keep the viv temp down is to place ice cubes down in the water bowl. If the temps where going to get really high for the salamander, then the animal should go into the fridge to keep the temp down. The salamanders do not need any lighting as they are nocturnal which means they become active at night. You can use a normal fish tank light if you have live plants in the vivarium.

Food
Fire salamanders are insectivores, which mean they eat insects. Fire salamanders should be feed live invertebrate food (without a backbone). Foods that can be feed to fire salamander include:

Fire salamander should be feed a mixture of these foods every two to three days. And they should have their food dusted with a calcium and vitamin supplement once a week. Hatchling fire salamanders can be feed on the smaller food item e.g. bloodworm, fruit flies, Whiteworm etc. Hatchlings should be feed everyday and have their food dusted with a calcium and vitamin two to three times a week. A good calcium and vitamin supplement to use is nutrobal. Fire salamanders like most, if not all amphibians soak water up into their bladder though there skin. So they do not need any water ponds/ pools as they soak water from the mossy ground. And fire salamanders are not good swimmers and can drown easy.

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