Cave salamander

Cave salamanders are long and slender through their body, legs and tail. Their body coloration varies from yellowish to red with irregular black spots along their head, back and legs while their undersides are white or yellowish in color. Juveniles are paler in color and darken over time. Cave salamanders also have blunt snouts with eyes set close to the front of their heads.

Adults reach between 4-8 inches (10-20 centimeters) in length.

As their name suggests, cave salamanders make their homes in limestone caves, typically in what is known as the "twilight zone," an area by the mouth of the cave where some light penetrates but not enough for plant life to survive. When outside of their cave habitats, cave salamanders can be found hiding under rocks and logs in wooded areas just outside of the cave mouth. 
 
Cave salamanders are a North American species ranging from eastern Oklahoma to northern Virginia. They can be found as far north as central Indiana and south to central Alabama.
 

Life span for the cave salamander is approximately nine years in human care.

In the wild, cave salamanders feed on a wide variety of small invertebrates, including arachnids, worms, snails and insects.

At the Zoo, cave salamanders receive a diet consisting of crickets, fruit flies, bean beetles, isopods, springtails and black worms.

Female cave salamanders can lay an average of 60 eggs twice a year in cave streams or limestone pools. Young enter a larval phase, undergo metamorphosis and reach sexual maturity roughly two to three years later.

Threats to the cave salamander include human activities around caves, groundwater pollution, habitat destruction and the presence of emerging diseases.