The Fire Salamander is one of the most known salamanders that live in Europe.
What Does the Fire Salamander Look Like?
The Fire Salamander is yellow and black. It has a black body with yellow spots or stripes that can be thick or thin.
Some of the Fire Salamanders can be all black and others can have more yellow than black. Some of them can have red and orange and some can mix yellow in with the other colors.
Subspecies
There are many different subspecies that are recognized such as the Portuguese Fire Salamander, Spotted Fire Salamander, Barred Fire Salamander, African Fire Salamander, Corsican Fire Salamander and the Near Eastern Fire Salamander, along with others.
Where Does the Fire Salamander Live?
The Fire Salamander is known throughout Europe and they mostly live in forests or in areas that have hills. They like to live in forests so they can hide, and they like to live near ponds or areas that have clean water.
Most of the time, you will see a Fire Salamander living in tree trunks or living beside ponds or where there is wood for them to hide under.
What Does the Fire Salamander Eat?
The Fire Salamander will eat small insects such as spiders, worms, crickets, waxworms, and sometimes they will eat frogs or newts.
The Fire Salamander has sharp, flat teeth and strong jaws.
Finding a Mate
The Fire Salamander female and male look similar and they look for a mate when the male will block the path of the female. He will rub his chin on her to tell her that he is interested.
The female will then either give birth to the egg right when it is ready to hatch or she will give birth to the larvae of the salamander and will have it right in the water.
Protection
The Fire Salamander has a toxin that causes their predators to hyperventilate and can cause the head or the skin to swell and can cause their predator to die. The Fire Salamander is very dangerous to humans and can kill them.
Most of the Fire Salamanders have skin that helps them to not get fungal or bacterial infections.
Facts About Fire Salamanders:
- Fire Salamanders are usually found around 3,300 feet high and usually do not go to lower altitudes.
- The Fire Salamander’s poison can also cause a person’s blood pressure to go up and cause them to have convulsions.
- The Fire Salamander can shoot poison out of its eyes into the mouth or eyes of its predator.
- The Fire Salamander can get up to 12 inches long.
- The Fire Salamander only lives up to 10 years of age.
- The Fire Salamander was named because people thought that they could live in fire and this is just a myth.
What Did You Learn?
- What is the Fire Salamander? The Fire Salamander is a salamander that lives in Europe.
- What does the Fire Salamander eat? The Fire Salamander will eat small insects, newts, small frogs and other small animals that do not have a backbone.
- How long does the Fire Salamander live? The Fire Salamander can live up to 10 years old.
- Where does the Fire Salamander like to live? The Fire Salamander likes to live in areas where there is woods and water. They like to hide in wood that is on the ground and places where they can be hidden.
- Is the Fire Salamander poisonous? The Fire Salamander is poisonous and can be deadly even to humans.