How to Handle a Tiger Salamander

Video Transcript

"Now, handling your tiger salamander or a salamander in general, you want to be very gentle. You want to be very careful because they have very, very fragile skin. Another thing you want to keep in mind is that their skin is very absorbent. This is how they get a lot of their water, and in some cases, some amphibians such as plethodontids, your little tiny red back salamanders or your woodland salamanders, they actually breathe through their skin. They absorb the oxygen through their skin and through the lining and the roof of their mouth. Now, salts in our hands, that naturally occur, and the oils and the salts can actually dry out a salamander's skin. In some of the cases, if you're out in the woods and you find a smaller woodland salamander, you don't even want to pick them up because the salts in your hand can dry them out. If the skin dries out, they can't absorb oxygen, and thus they can die. If you ever want to handle your salamander, first what you want to do is wet your hand. Get your hand nice and wet. Before you wet your hand you want to make sure you wash your hand very well. If you have any bug spray, any perfumes, and sunscreen on your hand, it can potentially go into your salamander's body and kill them. So, wash your hands very well first. Wet your hands; make sure you hands are nice and wet, and then gently pick up the salamander. Salamander feel more secure when they have all 4 of their legs on something solid. You want to put them right in your hand and rest them in your hand. If you need to secure your salamander for some reason. If you need to take a closer look at, say it has discoloration on its skin and he's wiggling around, he doesn't want to stay still, what you can do is very gently place them right on top of your finger, your index finger, and very gently put your thumb on top of them. That can secure your salamander and keep them from wiggling. That way you can look him over, make sure he's okay, and then release them."