Caecilian and Salamander Feeding Video

[ikissedafrog]

Wow, I love caecilians! I've been fascinated by them for years and they are so rare to see! What species is that that you have? It's lovely! I've been looking for some for what seems like just about forever, on the rare occasion that one turns up for sale I haven't been in the position to buy, lol! Typical! Where did you find yours? Have you had any trouble maintaining them? Are they difficult to entice into feeding in captivity? I so want to pick your brain!

[Namio]

Wow, I love caecilians! I've been fascinated by them for years and they are so rare to see! What species is that that you have? It's lovely! I've been looking for some for what seems like just about forever, on the rare occasion that one turns up for sale I haven't been in the position to buy, lol! Typical! Where did you find yours? Have you had any trouble maintaining them? Are they difficult to entice into feeding in captivity? I so want to pick your brain!

Hi ikissedafrog, the species in the video was two yellow-striped caecilians, Ichthyophis kohtaoensis, a common species found in the South East Asia. Unfortunately I do not own them as they belong to my university. We have obtained them from Germany back in 2001, and they have since been on nightcrawler and chopped beef heart diet (with calcium & vitamin dusting every other feeding) just like how they were raised in Germany. They are quite easy to maintain. We have them in a regular 20-gallon tank with about 80-90% of tank filled with EcoEarth with a shallow but big waterbowl. They don't ever soak themselves in it, but having that waterbowl helps to maintain humidity. Every two months we replace half of the EcoEarth in the tank with fresh EcoEarth. I can't speak for other caecilians but these two guys will find the food with their chemical sensory, so they'll feed on their own if there's food inside their tank very readily.

so cute!!!

Thanks, Alex! I completely agree with you!

[ikissedafrog]

Thanks so much for the info!

[Locascio]

all i have to say is WOW that first video is crazy cool ive only read about them in books now ill be looking to get one of my own i love the idea of keeping one

[Namio]

all i have to say is WOW that first video is crazy cool ive only read about them in books now ill be looking to get one of my own i love the idea of keeping one

They are very cool animals to keep, although they are also quite hard to find. Although I had never seen them available on those sites, faunaclassified or kingsnake may still be your best bet.

[azn567]

I myself have found Dicamptodon in the wild before but never in the terrestrial stage. It is cool to see someone else who has had luck with Northern California Herps. Ambystoma Gracile is another one on my to-find list.

[Namio]

You just have to be in the right habitat. Even then these guys can be sporadic. From my experience a terrestrial Dicamptodon tenebrosus is slightly an easier find than D. gracile. That may not be true with other herpers, though.