Why is it that captive bred and born salamanders are very scarce in comparison to other types of amphibians that are of the contrary?
The Lacey Act was amended by FWS in 2016 and it now lists 201 species of salamander as injurious. It essentially bans sale ownership and transport of almost all salamanders. There is a strain of chytrid (Bsal) that is significantly affecting salamander populations in Europe and Asia but is not yet present in North America. The amendment was passed to assure that Bsal does not come here and wipe out native populations.
I looked over the ruling and it’s vague. It seems to apply more to large constrictors and I couldn’t find anything relevant to salamanders in the wording. If you post a link that mentions them specifically I’d be interested in reading it. Often there is a lot of confusion after amendments are made and it takes a while before anyone makes sense of it. To my knowledge nothing has changed.
Are axolotls easier to breed in capivity than tiger salamanders even though they're related by genus?
Yes. Axolotls are probably the easiest salamander to breed. There are many available, and prices are very low, often free.
Would it be risky to include fire belly newts if I were to have a salamander and newt collection because of Bsal?
No. It would be very unlikely that a CB newt, in the US, would have BSAL.
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