Ambystoma maculatum
Spotted salamander


HOUSING
Adults
Spotted salamanders have been known to reach lengths of almost 10 inches, although 5-8 inches seems to be their normal range. One can be housed perfectly in a 10 gallon tank or if you’d like more, a trio could be housed comfortably in a 20 gallon long tank. To meet the needs of their burrowing tendencies, your substrate should be at least 6-8 inches deep and loose in nature (coco-fiber or Bed-A-Beast are good examples of this). Even though your salamander will spend the majority of the time underground it isn’t a bad idea to provide at least one above ground hide. Temperatures should be kept between 50-70F.


Juveniles
Morphs should be housed in a simple setup consisting of a hide and moistened paper towels as the substrate for at least a month or two to monitor their feeding habits. After it is clear that they are feeding with no issues then they can be moved to a setup similar to the adults.

Larvae
Plastic tubs or 10 gallon tanks work best for housing the aquatic larvae. Spotted larvae should be kept in groups of 10 or less to reduce the possibility of cannibalism and limb nipping. Most keepers prefer to do daily water changes than to have a filter on the container. Although plants aren’t required it would aid in creating barriers that will also reduce the aggression issue as well.

FEEDING
Adults
The main diet of adults should consist of cut worm pieces. Crickets, slugs, and waxworms will also be readily accepted if offered as treats. Piercing the skin of wax worms will help aid in digestion, as their skin is non-digestible. Crickets will need to be gut-loaded then dusted with calcium before being fed to your salamander.

Juveniles
Recent morphs should be started out on fruit flies, white worms, and pinhead crickets. Both the crickets and fruit flies will need to be dusted with calcium and vitamins before feeding. In addition to the dustings, the crickets must be gut-loaded before feeding.

Larvae
Baby brine shrimp, daphnia, and moina are all good foods to start recently hatched larvae on. As the larvae increase in size, so should their food items. Bloodworms, white worms, and black worms make excellent additions to their diets at this time.

BREEDING
To date, there are no known cases of successful breedings occurring indoors. However, there have been a few reported cases of successful breeding outdoors; these required very large enclosures that housed some type of pond. Spotted salamanders also require a winter cool down period.

Please keep in mind this is just a rough draft.