Beautifully illustrated and full of colour photographs, "Salamanders and Newts as a Hobby" is a very good general book on the subject. If you're new to amphibians and you'd like to keep a salamander, this book tells you all you need to know, from purchasing to breeding. It would also serve as a nice basic reference text for experienced hobbyists.There is an overview of salamanders and their evolution, and there are sections on housing (both terrestrial and aquatic), feeding, diseases, breeding (the Marbled Newt and the Axolotl are the two examples covered in detail), and a section that briefly describes most of the well-known species.
Why 5-crowns? Well apart from being a beautiful book, it is an excellent introduction to the subject, and provides all of the information that most pet-owners will ever need. As it only claims to be "everything you need to know to get started", I strongly recommend it.
NB: this book is a "Save-Our-Planet" book, which means that all the profits from the sale of this book (and the others in the series) go towards the purchase of land in the virgin rain forests of brazil to preserve them from exploitation.
