Cynops orientalis (Chinese fire-bellied salamander)

Age: 8 to 12 years
Origin: China
Length: 5 to 10 centimeters
The Chinese fire-bellied salamander is mostly dark brown to black. The belly is red-orange and equipped with black spots. With a tail that is about the same length as its body and has a rounded end, it can reach a length of 10 centimeters.

Care
Experience: Novice amphibian keeper
Food: Invertebrates
Feed adult: Every 2 to 3 days
Feed young: Daily
Water bowl: Large water area
Water change: Daily

Power supply
This salamander species can be fed with dead or live food, with live food often being preferred. Prey animals that can be fed are, for example, mosquito larvae, daphnia, brine shrimp or earthworms. The newborn larvae do not need to be fed for the first few days as they live from their yolk sac. Then they can be fed with daphnia, mosquito larvae or tubifex. When they are larger, young brine shrimp or chopped worms can be fed.

Water
Since salamanders spend most of their time in the water, it is important that the water part is larger than the land part. The ideal temperature is between 15 and 22 degrees Celsius, an aquarium cooler can be used to achieve this. It is recommended to use a pump with a filter to maintain good water quality. However, this pump should not cause too strong a current, as they live in stagnant water in nature.

Cleaning
Keeping the terrarium clean is very important. The water in the water bath should be changed weekly, because salamanders often use the water as a toilet. Inspect the terrarium daily, remove dirty furnishings, clean and replace. The entire terrarium and interior must be cleaned several times a year. If disinfectants are required for cleaning (only use mild variants), rinse everything well and dry. This prevents the sensitive frog skin from coming into contact with chemicals.

Handling
Handling salamanders is not recommended due to their thin and sensitive skin that absorbs substances. Holding the animals is therefore bad for their health. If it is unavoidable to handle the animals, it is important to first wash your hands thoroughly, without soap, and to handle the animal with wet hands. You can also pick them up with vinyl gloves. Given that salamanders are venomous, which is not dangerous to humans, it is important that you always wash your hands after handling.

Housing
Minimum enclosure size for 1 salamander: 20 litres
Day temperature: 15-22 degrees Celsius
Night temperature: 15-22 degrees Celsius
Substrate: gravel, slate or aquarium sand.

Design
Fire-bellied salamanders are good climbers and will try to escape, it is important that this is not possible by closing everything properly. However, it is important that there is ventilation in the accommodation, without ventilation the humidity will be too high.
To ensure that the animals can hide, there must be both on land and in the water part of the enclosure.

Behaviour
Hunting method: Active hunters but can also wait for prey to emerge from dense vegetation.
Lifestyle: Nocturnal

Character
The Chinese fire-bellied salamander would mainly be found in the water but occasionally on land as well. They like to live among many aquatic plants where they can hide. All winter they are submerged or underground, except in mild winters when they do not hibernate or rest.

Points of attention
This species can be housed in groups. It is not recommended to house them with other animal species to avoid injury.

Cost and Purchase
Legislation:-
One-off costs: the costs of the animal and the accommodation.
Fixed costs: food and clean bedding.
Unexpected costs: vet costs should the animal become ill