Salamanders were born out of salamander fires, and lived as long as the flames they were birthed from continue to burn. However, if they were fed on pepper, they could survive outside out of its flames for up to six hours. The colour of the Salamander depended on the heat of its birthing fire, and produces hot flames itself.
Salamander blood had powerful regenerative and curative properties, and was used as an ingredient in the brewing of many potions. The Fire Dwelling Salamander was a rare corporeal form of the Patronus Charm. The maximum number of hours a salamander could survive out of fire as well as the number of legs most salamanders had was six, and as such, salamanders were used in the runic alphabet to represent the number six. There were different types of salamanders, such as the blue and the scarlet variety. Scale rot was an illness that can affect both salamanders and dragons. If left untreated, it could cause a salamander's tail to detach.
There also existed a variant species called the Frost Salamander that instead of dwelling in fire was closely associated with ice.