Save half of this water in case the following steps cause the animals to show discomfort. After the animals become quiescent and give signs of 43 adapting to the new environment, add no more than one-fourth the volume of laboratory water. If no distress is obvious after several hours, more fresh water may be added. Repeat these steps until the animals have adjusted to your water supply. If they show distress at some step, return them to the previous water mixture in which they did not show distress and prepare new water from a different source.
Water quality is only one aspect of their new environment.
In addition, container size, shape, and transparency must be considered. Individuals with obvious stress or damage should be isolated and treated as discussed in Chapter IX, Section B.2. After acclimatization, normal care procedures may be followed. Because of their shape and posture, terrestrial urodeles ship quite well unless seriously overheated or dehydrated. They may be handled in much the same way as the aquatic animals, i.e., they should be moved to permanent housing through a series of gradual temperature steps.