Posted by carly thompson on March 21, 2006

Q: we found a salamander on our front door and my dog tried to eat it so we rexcued it oping he did no damage to the slamander. He is knwo happy as can be in a huge tank with water and roacks and somewhere to hide and he loves it or seems to anyways. Yesterday before i left the house i checked on him nothing unusual was in the tank, and when i got home a few hours later i checked the tank again (as i never have owned a salamnder b4 im curious to see what he lives like) and there was this little cetimer byt centimerter brown salamander skin like egg looking thing layin in the shallow water, it looked just like the salamnders brown slimy skin but looked egg shaped, today i looked at it and it nwo has a little jelly looking end.. what is it? i live in canada well the vancouver area of british columbia actualyl and my slamander is brown with little brown black spots on him and he is about 6-7 inches in size do you knwo what he could be??

thanks

State: British Columbia

Habitat: suburban/yard

A: Thanks for your nice description - makes it much easier to help with identification. From what you've shared, it sounds like it is a Pacific Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon ensatus). This is a large salamander (18-30cm or 7-12" in length) with a very large appetite. It does sound too that your salamander is a female that has laid an egg as this species lays individual eggs, not masses. She must have been on her way to a pond where she could lay her eggs when you found her. Since she's not with a male, she won't have fertile eggs so it won't hatch.

Although I know it must be fun to have her and enjoy watching her, it would be an animal-friendly thing to release her so she can lay her eggs and live a normal life. Probably best to take her to that nearby pond at night and release her at the edge of the water. Thanks for asking and I hope this helps.

John Wiessinger ( March 22, 2006)