How to raise salamanders best?

Salamanders are very shy animals, usually hidden in wet places or under water, with smooth and sticky skin, long tails and round heads. Many species live in water all their lives, while others live entirely on land. Some even live entirely in damp and dark caves. Most salamanders usually breed in water. Let's take a look at how best salamanders are raised.

What kind of food do salamanders eat?

Salamanders live in and near hilly swamp puddles, ponds or rice paddies. Most adult salamanders hide during the day and come out to look for food at night. Some come out of the ground only during the breeding season, or when temperature and humidity are suitable for their survival, feeding mainly on insects, worms, snails and small animals, including their own kind.

Breeding methods of salamanders

1. Mating: the mating behavior between male and female salamanders is also quite special. The male individual wraps his semen in a capsule-like semen pod, and when excreted from the body, it will be inhaled by the female in a short time to complete the mating behavior.

2. Oviposition: the female oyster first selects the leaves of aquatic plants in the water, then clamps the leaves with her hind legs, repeats them several times, and finally rolls the flat leaves into pleats and wraps them around the cloacal foramen for 3-5 minutes, and the fertilized eggs are laid and wrapped in the leaves. After spawning, lie down to the bottom of the water, rest for a while and float to continue to lay eggs, usually laying only one egg at a time.

3. Fertilization: the original form of salamander reproduction is in vitro fertilization, while some higher forms of salamander are fertilized in vivo, in which female salamanders inhale the sperm excreted by male salamanders through their own cloacal opening. Most salamanders breed in the water, and some, such as most species of the lungless family, breed on land.

4. Growth: a series of juvenile development processes experienced by salamanders are called metamorphosis. Terrestrial salamanders lay eggs on land, and the larvae develop in the eggs. When the young hatch, they look like a miniature version of an adult. Aquatic salamanders lay eggs in water and hatch into tadpole-like larvae. Eventually they lose their gills. Some salamanders do not lay eggs and can give birth to fully formed young.

How to raise salamanders best?

1. Containers: after catching salamanders, they can be raised in a large glass fish tank to facilitate observation of their activities. The bottom of the cylinder is covered with washed gravel, injected with 30 cm deep pool water or well water, and put in a small amount of algae and other aquatic plants, which are arranged in an ecological environment similar to the capture site. Sand and gravel can absorb dirt, and aquatic plants can carry out photosynthesis, increase the oxygen content in the water, and provide for salamander spawning.

2. Water quality: clean pool water is better for raising salamanders, and well water is also suitable. If tap water is used, it should not be used until 3 to 5 days later, otherwise the residual chlorine in tap water will cause salamander poisoning and death. Changing water is a regular management work. Keeping the water fresh and clean is beneficial to the normal life of salamanders. Change water every 1-2 weeks in winter and every 3-5 days in other seasons.

3. Food: salamanders like to eat live small animals. Water earthworms are ideal fodder, which can be put into a little every other day. Water earthworms can also be wrapped in a single layer of gauze and hung in the water with ropes. Water earthworms will protrude part of the body from the gap in the gauze. Salamanders will swim to pull food. In addition, tadpoles, wigglers and water fleas are also favorite foods for salamanders. When there is a lack of active small animals, frozen shrimp can also be bought in the supermarket, thawed and cut into small pieces for feeding, or lean pork is cut into small pieces for feeding. However, attention should be paid to not taking too much food, and it is appropriate to have no residual food to prevent the food from rotting and affecting the water quality.

4. Hygiene: clean up the rest of the salamander's food from the nest. If the salamander fails to eat all the bait after several hours of feeding, it means that it is full. At this time, the rest of the live bait has to be cleared out. If not cleaned, the living creatures may in turn bite or infuriate the salamander.

Touch: although the cute little face of the salamander will stimulate the desire to touch, but try to avoid touching, the grease on human hands can really make the salamander sick. Conversely, secretions carried or bred by salamanders can also make humans sick. Therefore, it is best to just watch these little guys rather than touch them. If you have to come into contact with a salamander, for example, it is injured and need to take it out, wash your hands with very hot soapy water first. Be sure to rinse all the soap.

Note: the salamander's tiny glands also contain a deadly bacterium, and it can be used to produce a toxin called tetrodotoxin. When the salamander is attacked, it will immediately secrete this deadly neurotoxin. Let the opponent can not eat, carry around.