# Salamanders?



## tourist585 (Apr 11, 2013)

Yesterday I went to monchique (Portugal, algarve) it is a montain and I found a mini cave with some water in it (still water) and it had some salamanders in it (maybe newts). I took them home and I would like to know what type they are or if there newts. Some have gills some dont. I took some photos:
No gills:














With gills:







Are they male/female or different species? What do they eat?


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## cindygao0217 (Jul 3, 2014)

The species is yellow belly but with grill is a salmander and without it, it will be a yellow belly newt and the we can't tell the yellow belly is a female or male until it reach the adult size and they eat bloodworm,baby slug and other


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## tourist585 (Apr 11, 2013)

The salamander with gills is not yellow/orange underneath and has a fine tail.
And I can't find any worms or slugs because it is dry and hot here.


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## Perocore (Oct 4, 2013)

Most salamanders with gills are still in the larval state, and are not yet adults, there fore very difficult to identify until they do reach maturity. There are a few species where this is not the case, as in axolotls and some others. Most wild caught salamanders and newts will refuse to eat in captivity, but sometimes you get lucky and find some pigs that will eat (and can be kept). They eat slugs, worms, fly larvae, and even very small fish in the wild. Captive-bred salamanders and newts can usually be fed on aquatic amphibian pellets, but still need freeze-dried or live foods to be healthy.

Do you have any near-by bait shops that you could get some earthworms at? 

Salamanders and newts are _extremely_ sensitive to water conditions and chemicals, and can become ill in captivity very easily. If you can't get these guys to eat I would release them back to where you caught them. Not sure about where you are, but in the USA it is illegal to keep a lot of wild-caught amphibians because many of them are endangered or threatened.


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## tourist585 (Apr 11, 2013)

Can I feed the salamanders the inside of snails and I don´t have any shops that sell earthworms.


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## Perocore (Oct 4, 2013)

If you aren't able to provide live food (removing a snail from its shell kills it) then I would just release them back where you found them, especially since you don't know the species 100% (they could be endangered).


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