Posted by james terlikosky on December 1, 2005

Q: My daughter caught three little salimanders in our back yard... She is heart broken because I told her that we should return them to the spot where we found them. She insist that we can keep them. If we do. What do I feed these little guys. and how do I make them comfortable?

Habitat: suburban/yard

State: Pennsylvania

Habitat: suburban/yard

A: This is one of those important and difficult lessons we all need to learn. This is a wild animal and it has special requirements that we often are unable to meet to keep it alive. With winter coming on, this salamander needs to find a place where it can spend the winter without freezing. Since we've had a warmer than usual fall, there are still some active amphibians but they really need to be left alone to find appropriate places to overwinter.

Salamanders are carnivores and need small creepy-crawlies to feed on however, your salamander really should spend the winter NOT eating but at a temperature that keeps it cool enough so it can live off of its fat.

I know this must be difficult for your little girl to understand but she needs to realize that if you bring it into your home, it will almost certainly die.

Why not release it where you found it and then in the spring see if you can find it again? Keeping salamanders alive is really not easy since their food requirements are small animals that are not always available.

I hope this helps. Best of luck to you and the salamander.

John Wiessinger ( December 1, 2005)