# Other Animals > Other Amphibians >  Caecilian and Salamander Feeding Video

## Namio

Here's a video of two caecilians feeding on small pieces of beef heart dusted with vitamin and calcium. These are truly unique animals.  With reduced eye-sight, caecilians spend most of their time burrowing underground, and they rare surface above ground. In the wild, they come to the surface of the ground only to breed.




A paedomorphic/neotenic Pacific giant salamander feeding video.  These guys have such a cute puppy face  :Embarrassment: . What's remarkable about neotenic salamanders is that they can remain in their larval form and reach adult size and sexual maturity. 




Here is a "regular" or terrestrial form of the Pacific giant salamander eating beef heart and nightcrawler.  These guys are by far the largest terrestrial salamanders occurring on the west coast.




This is a northwestern salamander feeding video. I really like this guy cuz he's always smiling. Northwestern and Pacific giant salamanders are endemic to the Pacific Northwest region of the North America. 




Two tiger salamanders eating. They are such a little brat. Love them!



If you want to see aquatic frogs eat, click here: http://www.frogforum.net/aquatic-cla...tml#post141600

If you'd like to watch a captive bred Surinam horned frog eat, click here: http://www.frogforum.net/pacman-frog...tml#post141603

----------


## SkeletalFrog

Very cool, especially the caecelians.  Is this their primary meal, or do you also add in earthworms and insects for them?

----------


## Namio

> Very cool, especially the caecelians.  Is this their primary meal, or do you also add in earthworms and insects for them?


Hi there, nightcrawlers are definitely a part of the neotenic Pacific giant and caecilians' staple diet.  With terrestrial salamanders, crickets are their staple diet, and beef heart would be a rare treat, even though they LOVE it!  :Smile:

----------


## MantisMan

so cute!!!  :Smile:

----------


## 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!  :Smile:

----------


## 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!   :Smile:

----------


## 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.

----------


## azn567

> 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.


Don't you mean A. Gracile?

----------


## Namio

> Don't you mean A. Gracile?


Hah, I absolutely did mean _Ambystoma_.

----------

