Lessons Learned on the Farm

• Mar. 26, 2009 - Meet Sammy the Salamander

My husband was at the local amish store today when he heard a bit of a ruckus. They had just gotten a big shipment of plants and apparently this little guy was hitch hiking in one of the root balls.

For a second, they thought it was a snake and some of the women present were about to bust a gasket. But Tony quickly identified it as a salamander and snatched him up before he got whacked with a broom!

Tony called home and told us to do some research to find out what kind of salamander it was and what we would need to take care of it.

Jake did a little research online and we discovered that it is an Eastern Tiger Salamander and is actually native to our area.

I posted about it on facebook and one of my friends sent me a link to an article on How to Care for Salamanders. Don't you just love the Internet?! This world wide webby thing is soooo handy!

So Tony picked up a small plastic box, some aquarium stones, and salamander food and we've got Sammy all settled in. We'll probably just watch him for a while and then let him go down by our creek, but it's a nice learning experience anyway.

I hope we can find The Salamander Room at our library. It looks like it would go REALLY well with this adventure!

Edited to add: I just searched on YouTube for Tiger Salamanders and found lots of helpful videos. Who knew?!

Comments

• Mar. 26, 2009 - How cool!

Posted by Mel

I'm still getting used to geckos. lol I haven't seen any in this house, but when we were in Lodging here (a muuuuch older building) they were all over the place. As were the spiders, cicadas, and other flying and crawling things. *shiver* Needless to say, I let the geckos stay. LOL

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• Mar. 26, 2009 - From Kari

Posted by Anonymous

I have that book, The Salamander Room, I'd be happy to loan it to ya! What a cool pet!

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• Mar. 26, 2009 - Ah, the joys of boys and their amphibians!

Posted by Anonymous

Isn't it interesting the things that we mothers of boys learn about and shelter in our home?! I didn't even know the difference between frogs and toads til a few years ago, but I sure know now!

And you're right - the internet is great for info. when you find yourself in adventures such as these! Hope you all have fun with Sammy!

Chris (centeredathome)

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• Mar. 26, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Allison24

He's very cute! Do you still have your fish? I hope that I get to see Sammy before you let him go!
See Ya,
-Allison

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• Mar. 27, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Juliestew

So cool. We found one a couple years ago and let it go near the creek after keeping it for a couple days. I'm always scared I'm going to kill something we catch.
julie

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• Mar. 27, 2009 - Really cool looking critter...

Posted by proverbsmomof3

My son kept several anole lizards in a fish tank one winter as a Boy Scout project, then let them go in the spring. He is our resident specialist. :)
The internet has so much information I can get overwhelming. Glad you found what you needed. Hope you all enjoy learning about your new addition.

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